LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
DAVIS 


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u 


PINE  NEEDLES  AND  OLD  YARNS. 


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.  ROBERT   CARTER  &  BROTHERS, 

NEW  YOKE. 


PINE  NEEDLES 


BY  THE  AUTHOR  OF 


"THE  WIDE,  WIDE  WORLD." 


;They  that  say  such  things  declare  plainly  that  they  seek  a 
country."  —  HEB.  xi.  14. 


NEW    YORK: 

ROBERT   CARTER  AND   BROTHERS, 

530  BROADWAY. 
1877. 

LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
—    DAVIS 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1877,  by 

ROBERT  CARTER  &  BROTHERS, 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington. 


ST.     JOHNLAND 

PBESS   OF  STEEEOTTPE  FOUNDBT, 

JOHN  WILSON   A    SON.  SUFFOLK  CO.,  N.  Y. 


PINE  NEEDLES  AND  OLD  YARNS. 


CHAPTER   I. 

The  Franklins  were  coming  to  Mosswood. 

This  might  have  happened,  Maggie  thought,  a 
good  while  ago;  but  however  the  view  had  not 
been  shared  by  Mrs.  Candlish,  and  a  whole  year 
had  passed  away  since  the  joyful  coming  home  of 
the  family  to  their  old  possessions.  The  winter 
was  spent  at  Mosswood,  in  quiet  gladness  and 
gradual  strength-gaining;  the  spring  brought  a 
return  to  all  the  favourite  out-door  amusements 
and  occupations  of  the  family.  Summer  was  the 
proper  time  for  company,  and  the  house  had  been 
filled  till  the  end  of  September.  Then  Mrs.  Cand^. 
lish  declared  she  was  tired  and  must  run  away,  or 
she  would  be  obliged  to  entertain  people  till  No 
vember;  and  she  joined  her  husband  in  a  trip  to 
California,  which,  half  for  business  and  half  for 
pleasure,  Mr.  Candlish  had  resolved  upon  taking. 
At  that  juncture  the  children  begged  for  the  Frank 
lins  ;  and  their  mother  was  willing.  "  As  I  cannot 


6  PINE    NEEDLES 

be  here,"  she  said,  "it  will  not  be  necessary  to 
extend  the  invitation  to  Mrs.  Franklin.  You  may 
have  the  others,  and  do  what  you  will  with  them." 

"I  should  think,"  remarked  Maggie,  "if  Meredith 
and  Flora  heard  what  mamma  said,  they  wouldn't 
like  it  much." 

However,  they  did  not  hear  it,  and' if  they  guessed 
at  the  substance  of  it  I  don't  know ;  but  Flora  had 
too  much  curiosity  and  Meredith  too  much  affection 
engaged,  to  be  over  scrupulous.  So  they  came,  and 
were  welcomed,  I  was  going  to  say,  uproariously. 
It  just  fell  short  of  that.  For  even  Esther  privately 
declared  to  her  sister  that  "  nobody  was  so  nice  as 
Meredith  Franklin." 

Now  after  seeing  them,  the  next  thing  was  to 
make  them  see  Mosswood;  and  many  were  the 
consultations  Maggie  and  Esther  had  already  held 
over  plans  and  means.  Nothing  could  be  settled 
after  all  till  the  guests  came.  And  when  they 
came,  the  whole  first  evening  was  spent  in  joyous 
talk  and  recollections.  But  the  next  morning  be 
fore  breakfast  Maggie  and  Meredith  met  at  the 
house  door.  Meredith  had  been  out  walking. 

"How  do  you  like  it?"  she  asked  daringly,  clasp 
ing  his  hand,  while  her  eyes  looked  love  and  pleas 
ure  hard  into  his  face. 

"  It  is  the  most  beautiful  place  I  ever  saw  in  my 
life." 

"  And  it  is  such  a  nice  day,"  said  Maggie  glee 
fully.  "What  shall  we  do  to-day?  " 

*4  Let  us  be  out  of  doors ! " 


AND  OLD  YARNS.  7 

"0  yes,  we'll  be  out  of  doors,"  said  Maggie;  "but 
where  shall  we  go  ?  " 

"Nowhere  out  of  Mosswood — if  you  ask  me.  I 
don't  want  anything  else." 

"  Well,  Mosswood  is  pretty  good,"  said  Maggie, 
"because,  when  you  are  at  Mosswood  you  have 
the  hills  and  the  river  and  all,  besides  Mosswood, 
you  know — 0  Meredith !  I  have  thought  of  some 
thing!" 

"I  dare  say,"  Meredith  answered  smiling.  "That 
is  quite  in  your  way." 

"This  is  something  nice.  Suppose  we  go  out 
and  have  dinner  in  the  woods  ?  " 

"  I  should  say  it  was  a  capital  plan." 

"We  used  to  do  that  in  old  times,  before  ever 
we  went  away.  And  we  have  got  a  nice  little 
cart,  Meredith,  to  carry  our  dinner  and  whatever 
we  want,  and — 0  it's  nice !  it's  nice ! "  exclaimed 
Maggie,  jumping  on  her  toes  for  delight.  "  I'm  so 
glad  you're  here !  and  I'm  so  glad  to  go  into  tho 
woods  again  to  dinner." 

"  We  want  only  one  thing,"  said  Meredith. 

"What's  that?" 

11  Mr.  Murray." 

"  Uncle  Eden !     I'll  write  to  him." 

"Let  us  all  write  to  him.  Every  one  put  in 
something.  That  will  bring  him  maybe." 

"  Yes,  that  will  bring  him ! "  Maggie  echoed ; 
and  I  do  not  believe  that  for  the  rest  of  the  morn 
ing  she  took  another  flat  step.  On  her  toes,  was 
the  only  way  that  her  spirits  could  go.  The  first 


8  PINE   NEEDLES 

thing   after   breakfast  was   the   Kotmd    Robin   to 
Uncle  Eden.     Maggie  began  it,  as  the  youngest. 

"  DEAR  UNCLE  EDEN — Flora  and  Meredith  are  here 
while  mamma  and  papa  are  gone  to  California. 
We  are  going  out  in  the  woods  to  dinner;  and  we 
all  want  you.  Do  please  come,  if  you  can  get 
away  from  Bay  House.  We  want  you  as  much  as 
anybody  can  be  wanted.  MAGGIE." 

Then  Esther  wrote — 

"DEAR  UNCLE  EDEN — It  is  quite  true.  We  do 
all  want  you  very  much.  Fenton  is  coming,  and 
I  am  afraid  nobody  will  keep  him  in  order,  if  you 
are  not  here.  ESTHER." 

Then  Flora — 

"  I  think  we  would  all  be  very  glad  to  see  Mr. 
Murray.  I  am  sure  one  sincerely  glad  would  be. 

"  FLORA  FRANKLIN." 
Last,  Meredith — 

"  DEAR  MR.  MURRAY — You  know  how  true  is  all 
the  foregoing.  And  yet,  though  I  cannot  sup 
pose  I  should  be  gladder  to  see  you  than  every 
body  else,  it  does  seem  to  me  that  I  want  to  see 
you  more  than  any  of  the  rest  can — because  I  have 
so  many  questions  to  ask,  and  feel  that  I  need  so 
much  advice.  I  hope  you  may  find  that  you  can 
comply  with  our  joint  earnest  desire. 

"MEREDITH  FRANKLIN." 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  9 

After  all  were  done,  Maggie  begged  for  the  pa 
per,  to  add  a  word  that  nobody  else  must  see. 
This  was  what  she  said. 

"DEAR  UNCLE  EDEX — I  want  to  say  a  private  word 
to  yon.  I  feel  somehoAV  as  if  it  was  not  just  ex 
actly  respectful  to  Meredith  and  Flora  that  they 
should  be  here  with  nobody  but  just  us.  Don't 
you  think  so  ?  But  if  you  could  come,  it  would  be 
all  right.  We  are  going  in  the  woods  to  dinner 
to-day — 0  I  wish  you  were  here  !  MAGGIE." 

This  joint  epistle  finished  and  sealed,  and  some 
other  despatches  for  Leeds  got  ready,  it  was  time 
to  see  about  making  preparations  for  the  woods. 
Where  should  they  go?  Question  the  first. 

"  To  the  old  Fort." 

"To  the  Happy  Valley." 

"  No,  to  the  Lookout  rock." 

"  Not  to-day,  Esther.  Let's  keep  that  for  Uncle 
Eden.  Suppose — suppose — " 

"The  Plateau." 

"It  seems  to  be  an  embarras  de  ricliesses,"  said 
[Meredith  laughing,  "and  I  do  not  wonder.  Let 
me  help  you.  Suppose  we  go  up  on  this  height 
just  east  of  us ;  isn't  the  view  pretty  from  there  ?  " 

"  The  South  Pitch  !  0  it's  lovely  up  there,';  cried 
Maggie.  "  You  look  down  on  the  house,  and  you 
look  down  the  river,  and  it's  shady  and  nice.  It's 
just  lovely.  That  is  best  for  to-day.  Then  other 
days  we'll  take  the  other  places.  Now  we  must 
get  ready." 


10  PINE   NEEDLES 

"What?  "said  Flora. 

"  0,  you  must  get  your  work,  or  books  if  you 
like;  whatever  you  like;  and  Meredith  must  find 
a  book  too,  I  suppose ;  we  always  take  books  and 
work  and  then  we  talk;  but  once  when  we  took 
nothing,  then  we  didn't  do  anything.  Esther  and 
I  must  prepare  the  wagon ;  cart,  I  mean." 

"What  is  to  go  in  the  cart?  Cannot  we  help 
you?"  said  Meredith.  "And  where  is  the  cart,  in 
the  first  place  ?  " 

"0,  it's  up  in  the  wood-house  loft;  we  haven't 
had  it  out  this  year  yet,  you  know.  Ditto,  maybe 
you'll  tell  Fairbairn  to  get  it  down,  will  you  ?  " 

"Who  is  Mr.  Fairbairn?" 

"0,  the  gardener.  He's  out  there  somewhere. 
Esther  and  I  must  go  to  Betsey  for  things." 

"I  suppose  I  shall  know  Fairbairn  when  I  seo 
him,"  said  Meredith  smiling,  as  he  put  on  his  hat. 

In  a  quarter  of  an  hour  the  cart  stood  at  the 
door,  and  Esther  and  Maggie  and  Flora  were  bus 
ily  packing  "  things  "  in  baskets.  Meredith  came 
to  put  his  hand  to  the  work. 

"It  is  so  hard  to  remember  everything,"  said 
Esther.  "We  always  forget  something  or  other, 
and  then  somebody  has  to  go  back  for  it.  Now 
here  is  all  the  china,  I  think.  0  stop !  have  we 
put  the  tea-pot  in  ?  " 

"Who  wants  tea?"  said  Meredith. 

"  In  the  woods  ?  0  we  always  have  tea  in  the 
woods,  and  sometimes  coffee." 

"Make  a  fire  to  boil  the  kettle?" 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  11 

"Why  of  course!" 

"How  should  I  know  it  was  of  course?  "Well, 
tea  is  very  good  in  the  woods,  I  have  110  doubt. 
Don't  forget  the  tea." 

"  But  I  should  have  forgotten  the  sugar,  if  you 
hadn't  spoken." 

"And  the  salt!  don't  forget  the  salt;  we  always 
do." 

"We  don't  want  salt  to-day;  we  have  nothing 
to  eat  it  with." 

"  Yes,  we  have." 

"Xo,  we  haven't;  there  is  cold  ham,  and  bread, 
and  butter,  and  apple-sauce." 

"Take  the  salt,"  said  Meredith,  "and  give  me  a 
few  eggs,  and  I'll  make  you  a  friar's  omelet." 

"  A  friar's  omelet !     What  is  that  ?  " 

"You'll  see.  Only  I  shall  want  a  dish  to  mix 
it  in,  you  know." 

Delightful!  The  dish  was  fetched  from  the 
kitchen,  and  the  omelet  pan.  Ham  and  apple 
sauce  Betty  had  packed  for  the  party  already; 
rolls  and  butter,  spoons  and  knives  and  forks,  a 
pitcher  of  cream,  napkins — I  do  not  know  what 
all — went  into  the  other  baskets,  and  were  finally 
stowed  in  the  cart.  A  light  porter's  cart,  it  was; 
roomy  enough ;  and  yet  it  grew  pretty  full.  The 
tea-kettle  must  find  a  place;  then  books  and  knit 
ting  and  paper.  Then  thick  shawls  to  spread  upon 
the  rocks,  to  make  softer  seats  for  the  more  ease- 
loving.  Fairbairn  carried  a  tin  pail  with  water. 
All  these  arrangements  took  up  time ;  so  the  morn- 


12  PINE   NEEDLES 

ing  was  well  on  its  way  and  the  dew  long  off  the 
grass,  when  at  last  the  procession  set  forth.  Mere 
dith  drew  the  cart,  which  he  was  informed  he  must 
do  carefully,  or  the  cream  would  slop  over  and  pos 
sibly  other  damage  be  done. 

It  was  not  a  long  way  they  had  to  go, 'this  morn 
ing.  Bordering  upon  the  lawn  and  shrubbery,  to 
the  east,  rose  a  little  rocky  height,  which  in  fact 
prevented  the  dwellers  at  Mosswood  from  ever 
seeing  the  sun  rise.  But  the  hill  was  so  pretty, 
they  forgave  it.  Towards  the  house  it  presented  a 
smooth  wall  of  grey  granite;  on  the  top  it  also 
shewed  granite  in  quantity,  there,  however,  alternat 
ing  with  moss  and  thin  grass,  and  overshadowed 
by  cedars,  oaks,  and  pines,  with  now  and  then  a 
young  hemlock.  The  soil  was  thin ;  the  growth  of 
trees  in  consequence  not  lofty;  nevertheless  very 
graceful.  No  cultivation,  hardly  any  dressing,  had 
been  attempted;  the  purple  asters  sprung  up  at 
the  edge  of  the  rocks,  and  huckleberry  bushes 
stood  where  they  found  footing ;  here  and  there  a 
bramble,  here  and  there  a  bunch  of  ferns.  Now 
the  oak  leaves  were  turned  yellow  and  brown ;  the 
huckleberry  bushes  in  duller  hues  of  the  same; 
moss  was  dry  and  crisp,  and  ferns  odourous  in  the 
warm  air. 

To  reach  the  top  of  the  height  a  circuit  must  be 
made.  There  was  no  path  leading  straight  from 
the  house.  Through  the  grounds  at  the  back  of 
the  house  the  way  wound  along  between  beds  of 
acheranthus  and  cineraria  which  made  warm  strips 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  13 

of  bordering,  with  scarlet  pelargoniums  lighting 
up  the  beds  beyond  in  a  blaze  of  brilliance.  Turn 
ing  then  into  a  carriage  road,  the  party  followed 
it  to  the  north  of  the  height  which  Maggie  had 
called  the  South  Pitch,  and  struck  off  then  south 
wards  into  a  little  mossy,  rocky,  hardly  traced 
path  under  the  trees. 

"This  is  easy  enough,"  said  Meredith,  guiding 
his  cart  somewhat  carefully,  however,  to  avoid 
severe  jolts  which  would  have  endangered  the 
cream.  "I  do  not  see  where  the  pitch  is  yet." 

"Ah,  but  you  will,  when  you  get  to  the  south 
end,"  said  Maggie.  "Look  out,  Ditto,  here's  a 
rock  in  your  way.  And  these  huckleberry  bushes 
are  very  thick." 

Following  on  over  rocks  and  bushes,  they  soon 
came  to  the  place  Maggie  meant,  and  Meredith 
rested  his  cart  and  stood  still  to  look.  From  the 
southern  brow  of  the  little  hill,  the  ground  fell 
steeply  away ;  so  steeply  that  the  eye  had  unhin 
dered  range  over  the  river  which  lay  below,  and 
the  hills  bordering  it,  and  the  point  of  Gee's  Point 
which  there  pushes  the  river  to  the  eastward.  Not 
a  tree-branch  even  was  in  the  way ;  river  and  hills 
lay  in  the  October  light,  still,  glowing,  fair,  as  only 
October  can  be. 

"Do  you  like  it,  Meredith?"  asked  Maggie  wist 
fully.  Her  opinion  of  Mosswood  had  been  long  a 
fixed  one. 

"  I  have  never  seen  such  a  place ! " 

"Uncle  Eden  had  his  tent  up  here  one  summer, 


14  PlNENEEDLES 

and  he  cut  away  all  the  branches  and  trees  that 
were  in  the  way  of  the  view;  for  he  wanted  to  lie 
in  his  tent  at  night  and  be  able  to  look  out  and  see 
the  river  and  the  hills  in  the  moonlight." 

"And  did  he  have  this  wall  built  too?"  asked 
Meredith,  seeing  that  the  platform  where  he  stood 
was  held  up  on  the  side  towards  the  river  by  a 
regularly  laid,  though  unmortared,  wall. 

"Oh,"  said  Esther  laughing,  "that  wall  was  laid 
a  hundred  years  ago,  Meredith.  Soldiers  laid  it; 
our  soldiers;  all  Mosswood  was  fortified;  this  is  a 
breastwork." 

"Whom  do  you  mean  by  'our  soldiers?'" 

"Why,  the  Americans,"  said  Esther.  "When 
they  were  fighting  that  war,  a  hundred  years 
ago.  You'll  find  bits  of  breastwork  all  over  Moss- 
wood." 

"Well,  that  is  delightful,"  said  Meredith.  "We 
are  historical.  Now,  what  are  we  to  do  first?  I 
move,  we  make  our  camp  just  here.  We  cannot 
have  a  better  place." 

So  there  a  rock  under  a  tree,  here  a  bit  of  mossy 
bank,  was  taken  possession  of;  places  were  car 
peted  with  shawls,  and  luxurious  loungers  were  at 
rest  upon  them.  Fairbairn  set  down  the  pail  of 
water  and  departed;  Flora  got  her  worsted  em 
broidery  out  of  the  cart,  and  Esther  a  strip  of  af- 
ghan  which  she  was  ambitiously  making.  Mag 
gie  nestled  up  to  Meredith's  side  on  the  moss  and 
laid  her  little  hand  in  his,  and  for  a  little  while 
they  were  all  quiet:  these  last  two  enjoying  Octo- 


ANDOLDYARNS.  15 

ber.  But  Meredith  did  not  long  sit  still ;  lie  must 
go  exploring,  up  and  down  and  all  round  the 
South  Pitch.  Maggie  followed  him,  as  ready  to 
go  as  he,  and  talking  all  the  while.  It  was  noth 
ing  but  rocks  and  moss  and  trees  and  brambles 
and  ferns;  with  the  delicious  river  glittering  be 
low  the  rocks,  and  the  glow  of  the  hills  coming  to 
them  through  the  trees,  and  golden  hickory  leaves 
falling  at  their  feet,  and  now  and  then  a  chestnut 
burr  or  a  hickory  schale  to  be  hammered  open. 
Warm  and  tired  at  last  they  came  back  to  their 
place.  And  then  the  girls  declared  it  was  time  for 
dinner. 


16  PINE   NEEDLES 


CHAPTEK   II. 

A  fire  was  the  first  thing.  Meredith  and  Mag 
gie  gathered  dry  pine  branches  and  dead  leaves, 
and  Meredith  built  a  nice  place  for  the  kettle 
with  some  stones.  Then  they  found  they  had  no 
matches. 

"We  always  forget  something,"  cried  Maggie. 
"Now  I'll  run  home  and  fetch  a  box." 

Meredith  went  too.  It  was  only  a  little  more 
walk.  Then  the  fire  was  set  agoing  and  the  kettle 
filled  and  put  over.  Maggie  sat  by  to  keep  up  the 
flame,  which  being  fed  with  light  material  needed 
constant  supply.  Meredith  threw  himself  down  on 
the  mossy  bank  and  opened  his  book.  For  a  little 
while  there  was  silence. 

"What  are  you  reading,  Ditto?"  Maggie  asked 
at  length.  She  kept  as  good  watch  of  Meredith  as 
of  the  fire. 

"You  would  not  understand  if  I  told  you.  It 
is  a  German  book." 

"  Is  it  very  interesting  ?  " 

"  Yes." 

"  I  knew  it  was.     I  could  see  by  your  face ;  when 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  17 

you  pull  your  brows  together  in  that  way,  I  al 
ways  know  you  are  ever  so  much  interested." 

"  Well,  I  am,"  said  Meredith  smiling 

"  Would  it  interest  me  ?" 

"I  think,  perhaps,  it  would." 

"Ah,  Ditto,  don't  you  want  to  try?  Kead  us 
some  of  it.  What  is  it  about  ?  " 

"  It  is  a  Mission  Magazine." 

"  Missionary !  0  then  we  sJiouldnt  like  it,"  said 
Esther.  "  I  don't  believe  we  should." 

"  And  in  it  are  stories,"  Meredith  continued. 

"  What  sort  of  stories  ?  about  heathen  ?  " 

"  I  like  stories  about  heathen,"  said  Maggie. 

"  Stories  about  heathen  and  Christian,  which  a 
certain  Pastor  Harms  used  to  tell  to  his  people, 
and  which  he  put  in  the  magazine." 

"  Did  he  write  the  magazine  ?  " 

"Yes." 

"Who  was  Pastor  Harms?" 

"A  wonderful,  beautiful  man,  who  loved  God 
with  all  his  heart  and  served  him  with  all  his 
strength." 

"Why  there  are  a  great  many  people,  Ditto, 
who  do  that,"  said  his  sister. 

"  Most  people  that  I  have  seen,  keep  a  little  of 
their  strength  for  something  else,"  remarked  Mere 
dith  dryly. 

"  Was  he  a  German  ?  "  Maggie  asked. 

"  He  was  a  German ;  and  he  was  the  minister  of 
a  poor  country  parish  in  Hanover;  and  the  minis 
ter  and  the  people  together  were  so  full  of  the  love 
2 


18  PINE   NEEDLES 

of  Christ  that  they  did  what  rich  churches  else 
where  don't  do." 

"And  does  that  book  tell  what  they  did?" 

"Partly;  what  they  did,  and  what  other  people 
have  done." 

"  /  should  like  to  hear  some  of  it,"  \vas  Maggie's 
conclusion. 

"Well,  you  shall.  We'll  try,  after  dinner.  Flora 
and  Esther  may  shut  their  ears,  if  they  will." 

"  If  you  won't  read  something  else,"  said  Flora, 
"  I  suppose  I  would  rather  hear  that  than  nothing. 
I  can  get  on  with  my  work  better." 

"And  worsted  work  is  the  chief  end  of  woman, 
everybody  knows,"  remarked  her  brother.  "The 
kettle  is  boiling,  Maggie  !  " 

All  was  lively  activity  at  once.  Even  the  af- 
ghaii  and  the  worsted  embroidery  were  laid  on 
the  moss,  and  the  two  elder  girls  bestirred  them 
selves  to  get  out  the  plates  and  dishes  from  the 
baskets  and  arrange  them;  while  Maggie  made 
the  tea,  and  Meredith  set  about  his  omelet.  Mag 
gie  watched  him  with  intense  satisfaction,  as  he 
broke  and  beat  his  eggs  and  put  them  over  the 
fire;  watched  till  the  cookery  was  accomplished 
and  the  omelet  was  turned  out  hot  and  brown  and 
savoury.  The  girls  declared  it  was  the  best  thing 
they  had  ever  tasted,  and  Flora  thought  the  tea 
was  the  best  tea,  and  Meredith  that  the  bread  and 
butter  was  the  best  bread  and  butter.  Maggie  pri 
vately  thought  it  was  the  best  dinner  altogether 
that  ever  she  had  eaten  in  the  woods ;  but  I  think 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  19 

she  judged  most  by  the  company.  It  was  a  long 
dinner!  Why  should  they  use  haste?  The  Oc 
tober  sun  was  not  hot ;  the  sweet  air  gave  an  ap 
petite  ;  the  thousand  things  they  had  to  talk  about 
gave  zest  to  the  food.  They  were  not  in  a  hurry 
with  their  tea,  and  they  lingered  over  their  apple 
pie. 

AVhen  at  last  they  were  of  a  mind  to  seek  a 
change  of  diversion,  and  really  the  dinner  was 
done ;  for  talk  as  much  as  you  will  you  yet  must 
stop  eating  some  time;  the  plates  and  remnants 
were  quickly  put  back  in  the  baskets  and  set  again 
in  the  cart;  tea-kettle  and  napkins  cleared  away; 
and  the  mossy  dining-room  looked  as  if  no  com 
pany  had  been  there. 

"This  is  first-rate,  exclaimed  Meredith,  stretch 
ing  himself  on  the  warm  moss. 

"And  now,  Ditto,  you  are  going  to  read  to  us." 

"Ami?" 

"  Yes,  for  you  said  so." 

"An  honourable  man  always  keeps  his  prom 
ises,"  said  Meredith.  But  he  lay  still. 

The  two  elder  girls  got  out  their  work  again. 
Maggie  sat  by  and  silently  stroked  the  hair  on 
Meredith's  temples. 

"  This  is  good  enough,  without  reading,"  he  pres 
ently  went  on.  "The  moss  is  spicy,  the  sky  is 
blue,  I  see  it  through  a  lace- work  of  pine  needles ; 
the  air  is  like  satin.  I  cannot  imagine  anything 
much  better  than  to  lie  here  and  look  up." 

"But  you  can  feel  the  air  and  see  the  sky, 


20  PINE   NEEDLES 

and  smell  the  moss  too,  while  you  are  reading, 
Ditto." 

"  Can  I  ?  Well !  your  ten  fingers  are  so  many 
persuaders  that  I  cannot  withstand.  Let's  go  in 
for  Pastor  Harms !  " 

So  he  raised  himself  on  one  elbow,  no  further, 
and  laid  his  book  open  on  the  moss  before  him. 

"  But  it  is  in  German ! "  cried  Maggie,  looking 
over  to  see. 

"  Never  mind,  I  will  give  it  to  you  in  English, 
I  told  you  it  was  German." 

"  What  is  the  first  story  about  ?  " 

"  You  will  find  that  out  as  I  go  on.  Now  you 
understand  it  is  Pastor  Harms  who  is  speaking, 
only  he  was  a  famous  hand  at  story-telling,  and  to 
hear  him  would  have  been  quite  a  different  thing 
from  hearing  me."  And  Meredith  began  to  read. 

"  *  I  will  go  back  now  a  thousand  years,  and  tell 
you  a  mission  story  that  I  am  very  fond  of.  I 
found  it  partly  in  the  parish  archives  of  Hermanns- 
burg,  and  partly  in  some  old  Luneburg  chronicles. 
I  say  I  am  very  fond  of  it ;  for  after  the  fact  that  I 
am  a  Christian,  comes  the  fact  that  I  am  a  Liine- 
burger,  body  and  soul;  and  there  is  not  a  country 
in  the  whole  world,  for  me,  that  is  better  than  the 
Luneburg  heath — ' " 

"  0  stop,  Ditto,  please ;  cried  Maggie,  "  What  is 
a  '  heath '  ?  and  where  is  Luneburg  ?  " 

"  Ah  !  there  we  come  with  our  questions.  Lune 
burg  heath  isn't  like  anything  in  America,  that 
I  know,  Maggie.  It  is  a  strange  place.  There 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  21 

you'll  see  acres  and  miles  of  level  land  covered  with 
heather,  which  turns  purple  and  beautiful  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  season ;  but  in  the  midst  of  this 
level  country  you  come  suddenly  here  and  there  to 
a  lovely  little  valley  with  houses  and  grain -fields 
and  fruit  and  running  water;  or  to  a  piece  of 
woods ;  or  to  a  hill  with  a  farm-house  perched  up 
on  its  side,  and  as  much  land  cultivated  as  the 
peasant  can  manage.  So  the  people  of  the  par 
ishes  are  scattered  about  over  a  wide  tract,  except 
where  the  villages  happen  to  be.  And  for  where 
it  is — Luneburg  is  in  Hanover,  and  Hanover  is  in 
Germany.  You  must  look  on  the  map  when  you 
go  home.  Now  I  will  go  on — 

"  'And  next  to  the  fact  that  I  am  a  Luneburger, 
comes  the  fact  that  I  am  a  Hermannsburger ;  and 
for  me  Hermannsburg  is  the  dearest  and  prettiest 
village  on  the  heath.  My  mission  story  touches 
this  very  beloved  Hermannsburg.  From  my  youth 
up  I  have  been  a  sort  of  a  bookworm ;  and  when 
ever  I  could  find  something  about  Germany,  still 
more  something  about  the  Luneburg  heath,  and 
yet  more  any  thing  about  Hermannsburg,  then  I 
was  delighted.  Even  as  a  boy,  when  I  could  just 
understand  the  book  of  the  Roman  writer  Tacitus 
about  old  Germany,  I  knew  no  greater  pleasure 
than  with  my  Tacitus  in  my  pocket  to  wander 
through  the  heaths  and  moors  and  woodlands,  and 
then  in  the  still  solitude  to  sit  down  under  a  pine 
tree  or  an  oak  and  read  the  account  of  the  man 
ners  and  customs  of  our  old  heathen  forefathers. 


22  PlNENEEDLES 

And  then  I  read,  how  our  old  forefathers  were  so 
brave  and  strong  that  merely  their  tall  forms  and 
their  fiery  blue  eyes  struck  terror  into  the  Romans ; 
and  that  they  were  so  unshakably  true  to  their 
word,  once  it  was  given,  that  a  simple  promise 
from  one  of  them  was  worth  more  than  the  strong 
est  oath  from  a  Roman.  I  read  how  they  were  so 
chaste  and  modest  that  breaking  of  the  marriage 
vow  was  almost  an  unknown  crime ;  so  noble  and 
hospitable,  that  even  a  deadly  enemy,  if  he  came 
to  one  of  their  houses,  found  himself  in  perfect  se 
curity,  and  might  stay  until  the  last  morsel  had 
been  shared  with  him ;  and  then  his  host  would  go 
with  him  to  the  next  house  to  prepare  him  a  recep 
tion  there. 

" '  But  my  heart  bled  too,  when  I  read  of  their 
crimes  and  misdeeds,  their  inhuman  worship  of 
idols,  when  even  human  beings  were  slaughtered 
on  bloody  altars  of  stone,  or  drowned  in  deep, 
hidden,  inland  lakes ;  when  I  read  how  insatiable 
the  thirst  for  war  and  plunder  among  our  forefa 
thers  was,  how  fearful  their  anger,  how  brutish 
their  rage  for  drink  and  play;  and  when  I  read 
further,  how  the  whole  of  heathen  Germany  was 
an  almost  unbroken  wood  and  moorland,  without 
cities  or  villages,  where  men  ran  about  in  the  for 
ests  almost  naked,  at  the  most  clothed  with  the  skin 
of  a  beast,  like  wild  animals  themselves;  and  got 
their  living  only  by  the  chase,  or  from  wild  roots, 
with  acorns  and  beechmast;  then  even  as  a  boy  I 
marvelled  at  the  wonderful  workings  of  Christian- 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  23 

ity.  Only  one  thing  I  could  not  understand;  how 
there  should  be  nowadays  in  Christian  Germany 
so  much  lying,  unfaithfulness,  and  marriage-break 
ing,  while  our  heathenish  ancestors  were  such  true, 
honest,  chaste,  and  loyal  men;  it  always  seemed  to 
me  as  if  a  German  Christian  must  stand  abashed 
before  his  heathen  forefathers.  And  when  I  ob 
served  further,  how  many  Germans  nowadays  are 
cowardly-hearted,  while  among  our  heathen  ances 
tors  such  a  reproach  was  reckoned  the  fearfullest 
of  insults,  it  was  past  my  comprehension  how  a 
Christian  German,  who  believes  in  everlasting  life, 
can  be  a  coward,  and  his  heathenish  ancestors  who 
yet  knew  nothing  about  the  blessed  heaven,  have 
been  so  valiant  and  brave.'" 

"  Ditto,"  said  Maggie,  interrupting  him,  "  do  you 
think  that  is  all  true  ?  " 

"  Pastor  Harms  would  not  have  lied  to  save  his 
right  hand." 

"And — but — Ditto,  do  you  think  people  in  Amer 
ica  are  so  bad  as  that  ?  " 

Meredith  smiled  and  hesitated. 

"Yes,  Ditto,"  said  Flora;  "you  know  they  are 
not." 

"I  don't  know  anything  about  it,"  said  Mere 
dith.  "There  are  not  any  better  soldiers  I  sup 
pose,  in  the  world,  than  the  Germans,  nor  any 
where  such  a  band  of  army  officers,  for  knowledge 
of  their  business  and  ability  to  do  it.  But  there 
are  some  cowards  in  every  nation,  I  reckon ;  and  as 
there,  so  here.  But  among  those  old  Saxons,  it  ap- 


24  PINE   NEEDLES 

pears,  there  were  none.  As  to  truth" — Meredith 
hesitated — "There  are  not  a  great  many  people  I 
know  whose  word  I  would  take  through  and 
through,  if  they  were  pinched." 

There  was  a  chorus  of  exclamations  and  re 
proaches. 

"And  as  to  marriage-breaking,"  he  went  on,  "it 
'is  not  at  all  an  uncommon  thing  here  for  people  to 
separate  from  their  wives  or  their  husbands,  or  get 
themselves  divorced." 

"  Why  do  they  do  that,  Ditto  ?  "     Maggie  asked. 

"Because  they  are  not  true,  and  do  not  love 
each  other." 

"  So  you  make  it  out  that  the  heathen  are  better 
than  the  Christians !  "  said  Esther. 

"  I  do  not  make  out  anything.  I  am  only  stat 
ing  facts.  What  is  called  a  '  Christian  nation,'  has 
but  comparatively  a  few  Christians  in  it,  you  must 
please  to  remember.  But  I  do  think  those  old 
Saxons  were  extraordinary  people.  I  like  to  think 
that  I  am  descended  from  them." 

"  You,  Ditto ! "  exclaimed  Maggie  in  the  utmost 
astonishment. 

"  Why  yes,  certainly.  Don't  you  know  so  much 
history  as  that?  Don't  you  remember  that  the 
Saxons  went  over  and  conquered  England,  and 
England  was  peopled  by  them,  and  ruled  by  them, 
until  the  Norman  invasion?" 

"Oh!"  said  Maggie  with  a  long-drawn  note 
of  surprise  and  intelligence.  "But  I  didn't  know 
those  Saxons  were  like  these." 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  25 

"No,  nor  did  I.  It  interests  me  very  much. 
Shall  I  go  on  with  Pastor  Harms? 

" '  The  older  I  grew,  the  more  eager  I  was  to 
learn  about  Germany,  and  especially  about  my 
dear  Luneburg  country,  with  its  most  beautiful 
heaths,  moors,  and  woodlands.  I  can  not  express 
the  joy  I  took  in  the  great  fights  and  battles 
which  the  German  Prince  Herman  fought  with 
the  mighty  Romans.  Herman  was  prince  of  the 
Cheruski;  so  the  dwellers  between  the  Elbe  and 
the  Weser  at  that  time  were  called.  In  his  time 
the  never-satisfied  Romans  were  bent  upon  subju 
gating  all  Germany,  and  sent  their  most  powerful 
armies  into  the  country,  clad  in  iron  mail,  armed 
with  helmets,  bucklers,  lances,  and  swords,  and  led 
by  their  bravest  generals.  But  Herman,  with  his 
almost  naked  Germans,  fell  upon  them,  fighting 
whole  days  at  a  stretch,  and  beat  them  out  of  the 
land.  See  now,  thought  I  to  myself,  there  were 
Luneburg  people  along  with  him,  for  they  live  be 
tween  the  Elbe  and  the  Weser.  Or  when  others 
of  our  forefathers,  who  were  in  general  called  Sax 
ons,  boldly  sailed  over  the  sea  in  their  ships,  and 
chased  the  proud  Romans,  together  with  the  Picts 
and  Scots,  out  of  England,  and  took  the  beauti 
ful  land  in  possession  and  ruled  it ;  then  I  was 
glad  again  and  thought  with  secret  delight  — 
"our  Luneburg  people  were  there  too,  for  those 
ships  sailed  from  the  mouths  of  the  Elbe  and  the 
Weser." 

" 4  But  what  adoration  moved  my  heart,  when  I 


26  PINE   NEEDLES 

read  that  these  very  Saxons,  who  conquered  Eng 
land,  there  came  to  the  knowledge  of  Christianity 
and  received  it  into  their  hearts;  and  now  from 
England,  from  the  converted  Saxons,  came  num 
bers  of  Gospel  messengers  back  to  the  German 
country,  to  turn  it  also  to  the  Lord  Jesus.  Among 
them  was  Winfried,  the  strong  in  faith,  who  bap 
tized  more  than  300,000  Germans,  and  was  called 
the  apostle  of  Germany ;  there  were  the  two  broth 
ers  Ewald,  who  both  heroically  died  a  martyr's 
death,  being  sacrificed  by  our  forefathers  to  their 
idols.  After  them  others  carried  on  the  work,  es 
pecially  Willehad  and  Liudgar,  and  the  good  em 
peror  Charles  the  Great  helped  them,  until  at 
last  all  Germany  was  Christianized,  and  became 
through  the  Gospel  what  it  is  now.  And  I  have 
often  thought,  how  stupid  are  the  unbelievers  who 
follow  the  new  fashion  of  despising  Christianity. 
We  have  to  thank  Christianity  for  every  thing  we 
are  or  have.  Science,  art,  agriculture,  handicrafts, 
cities,  villages,  houses,  all  have  come  to  us  in  the 
first  place  through  Christianity;  for  before  that, 
as  I  said,  our  forefathers  ran  about  naked  in  the 
woods  like  wild  beasts,  and  fed  on  roots  and  acorns; 
and  I  used  to  think  the  best  thing  would  be,  to 
drive  the  iniidels  and  the  scornful  contemners  of 
Christianity  into  the  woods  and  forests,  draw  a 
hedge  about  them,  and  let  them  eat  acorns  and 
roots  in  the  woods  till  they  come  to  their  senses. 
In  young  people's  heads  a  great  many  queer  fan 
cies  spring  up,  which  yet  are  not  entirely  un- 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  27 

worthy  of  regard;  and  I  still  believe  that  would 
be  the  best  medicine  for  infidels.'" 

"But  Meredith,"  said  Flora,  "the  Greeks  and 
Romans  had  cities  and  villages,  and  sciences  too, 
and  arts,  without  Christianity." 

"  Quite  true,  but  the  Saxons  didn't." 

"  Perhaps  they  would." 

"Perhaps  they  wouldn't.  The  Greeks  and  Eo 
mans  were  wonderful  people,  and  so  were  the  an 
cient  Egyptians;  but  though  they  had  arts,  and 
built  cities,  they  had  very  little  science.  And  sci 
ence  and  Christianity  have  changed  the  face  of  the 
Christian  world.  Well,  let  us  have  Pastor  Harms. 

"  '  But  I  must  go  back  to  my  story.  Whenever 
I  happened  upon  an  old  library,  I  searched  it 
through  to  see  if  I  could  find  something  about 
Germany,  and  especially  about  Luneburg.  And  I 
do  not  regret  the  quantities  of  dust  I  have  swal 
lowed  in  my  way;  although  I  did  often  lament 
aloud  to  see  so  many  fine  old  manuscripts  almost 
eaten  up  with  dust  and  mice,  about  which  nobody 
had  troubled  himself  for  who  knows  how  many 
years  ?  But  also  I  found  many  a  one  that  repaid 
the  trouble  of  the  search.  From  the  sound  MSS.  I 
made  extracts  diligently.  But  I  had  a  good  many 
vexations,  too.  For  example,  I  have  come  to  cities 
and  villages,  in  which  last  there  were  baronial 
manors.  There  I  sought  to  come  at  the  books 
and  MSS.  of  the  olden  time.  And  would  one  be 
lieve  it?  Old  collections  of  books  had  been  sold 
entire,  by  the  hamperful,  to  trades-people  for  wrap- 


28  PINE   NEEDLES 

ping  their  cheese  in.  I  was  baffled.  So  much  the 
more  precious  became  my  extracts.  From  them  I 
will  tell  you  something  now,  which  I  found  about 
my  beloved  Hermannsburg. 

"'I  may  say  in  the  first  place  to  our  dear  coun 
try  people,  that  the  whole  of  northern  Germany  in 
early  times  was  called  the  country  of  the  Saxons. 
How  wide  that  was,  may  best  be  seen  by  the  lan 
guage.  So  far  as  low  German  is  spoken,  so  far 
extends  the  land  of  the  Saxons;  for  low  German 
is  their  proper  mother-tongue.  So  I  am  never 
ashamed  of  the  low  German  in  our  country;  it  is 
the  true  mother-tongue  of  our  land  and  people; 
my  heart  always  swells  when  I  hear  low  German 
spoken.  This  entire  Saxon  nation  was  divided  into 
three  tribes.  One  tribe,  which  dwelt  for  the  most 
part  towards  the  west,  that  is,  in  the  Osnabruck 
region  and  further  west  as  far  as  the  Rhine,  was 
called  the  Westphalians.  The  second  tribe,  which 
dwelt  mostly  at  the  east,  as  far  as  the  Elbe  and 
further,  was  called  the  Eastphalians.  Between  the 
two  lived  the  third  tribe,  called  the  Enger  or  the 
Angles;  for  Enger  and  Angle  are  all  one.  We 
here  in  Luneburg  belong  to  the  Eastphalians.  The 
name  is  said  to  have  come  from  the  bright  or  pale 
yellow  hair  of  our  forefathers.  For  clear  yellow  or 
pale  yellow  was  called  "fal."  Our  ancestors  wore 
this  bright  yellow  hair  long  and  hanging  down, 
something  like  a  lion's  mane;  what  so  many  young 
people  nowadays  would  esteem  a  splendid  adorn 
ment.  These  forefathers  of  ours  in  the  time  of 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  29 

Charlemagne  were  yet  mere  heathen  and  held  to 
their  heathen  idol  worship  with  extraordinary  te 
nacity  and  devotion.  They  were  further  a  wild, 
bold,  stiff-necked  people,  with  an  unbending  spirit, 
holding  fast  to  everything  old,  and  with  that,  lov 
ing  freedom  above  all  else.  They  had  no  rulers, 
properly  speaking;  each  house-father  was  a  despotic 
prince  in  his  own  house,  and  lived  alone  upon  his 
territory,  just  that  he  might  be  free  and  rule  his 
realm  independently.  Their  common  name,  Saxon, 
came  from  a  peculiar  weapon,  the  sachs;  a  stone 
war-mallet  or  battle-axe,  which  was  made  fast  to  a 
longer  or  shorter  wooden  handle.  In  the  strong 
hands  of  the  Saxons  this  was  a  fearful  weapon, 
with  which  they  rushed  fearlessly  upon  the  foe, 
hastening  to  come  to  a  hand-to-hand  fight;  for  they 
liked  to  be  at  close  quarters  with  their  enemies. 

'-' '  Wild  and  terrible  as  their  other  customs  were, 
was  also  their  idol  worship.  Their  principal  deity 
was  called  Woden,  in  whose  honour  men  were 
slaughtered  upon  great  blocks  of  stone;  their 
throats  being  cut  with  stone  knives.  Not  far  off, 
some  two  or  three  hours  from  Hermannsburg,  are 
still  what  are  called  the  seven  stone-houses;  in 
other  words  blocks  of  granite  set  up  in  a  square, 
upon  which  a  great  granite  block  lies  like  a  cover. 
The  men  to  be  sacrificed  were  slain  upon  these 
blocks  of  granite.  Quite  near  our  village  too,  there 
stood  formerly  some  such  sacrificial  altars.  How 
fearful  and  bloody  these  sacrifices  were,  appears 
from  what  an  old  writer  relates;  that  it  was  the 


30  PlNENEEDLES 

custom  of  the  Saxons,  when  they  returned  home 
from  their  warlike  expeditions,  to  sacrifice  to  their 
idols  every  tenth  man  among  the  captives;  the 
rest  they  shared  among  themselves  for  slaves.  And 
upon  special  occasions,  for  instance,  if  they  had  suf 
fered  severe  losses  in  the  war,  the  whole  of  the  cap 
tives  would  be  consecrated  to  Woden  and  sacri 
ficed.'  That's  the  Woden  we  call  one  day  of  the 
week  after." 

"  We  ?  One  day  of  the  week  ! "  exclaimed  Mag 
gie;  while  Flora  looked  up  and  said,  "0  yes! 
Wednesday." 

"  Wednesday  ?  "  repeated  Maggie. 

"  Woden's-day,"  said  Meredith. 

"Is  it  Woden's-day!  Wednesday?  But  how  come 
we  to  call  it  so,  Ditto  ?  " 

"  Because  our  fathers  did." 

"But  that  is  very  strange.  I  don't  think  we 
ought  to  call  it  Woden's-day." 

"The  Germans  do  not  call  it  so,  who  live  at  this 
time  round  those  old  stone  altars;  they  say  Mitt- 
woche,"  or  Mid-week.  But  the  English  Saxons 
seem  to  have  kept  up  the  title. 

"  Are  those  stone  altars  standing  now,  Ditto  ?  " 

"  Some  of  them,  Pastor  Harms  says ;  and  what  is 
very  odd,  it  seems  they  call  them  stone  houses; 
and  don't  you  recollect  Jacob  called  his  stone  that 
he  set  up  at  Bethel,  '  God's  house  ?  ' ' 

"  Well,  Ditto,  go  on  please,"  said  Maggie. 

"You  don't  care  for  archaeology.  Well — 'The 
German  emperor  Charlemagne,  who  reigned  from 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  31 

768  to  814,  was  a  good  Christian.  He  governed 
the  kingdom  of  the  Franks;  and  that  means  the 
whole  of  central  and  southern  Germany,  together 
with  France  and  Italy ;  and  all  these,  his  subjects, 
had  been  already  Christian  a  long  time.  On  the 
north  his  empire  was  bordered  by  our  heathen  an 
cestors,  the  Saxons,  and  they  were  the  sworn  foes 
of  Christianity.  Whenever  they  could,  they  made 
a  rush  upon  Charlemagne's  dominions,  plundered 
and  killed,  destroyed  the  churches  and  put  to  death 
the  Christian  priests;  and  were  never  quiet.  So 
Charlemagne  determined  to  make  war  upon  the 
Saxons,  partly  to  protect  his  kingdom  against  their 
inroads,  and  partly  with  the  intent  to  convert  them 
with  a  strong  hand  to  the  Christian  religion.  Then 
arose  a  fearful  war  of  thirty-three  years'  length, 
which  by  both  sides  was  carried  on  with  great  bit 
terness.  The  Saxons  had,  in  especial,  two  valiant, 
heroic-hearted  leaders,  called  "dukes"  because  they 
led  the  armies.  The  word  "duke"  therefore  means 
the  same  as  army-leader.  The  one  of  them  in  West 
phalia,  was  named  Wittekind;  the  other  in  East- 
phalia  was  named  Albion,  also  called  Alboin.  Char 
lemagne  was  in  a  difficult  position.  If  he  beat  the 
Saxons,  and  thought,  now  they  would  surely  keep 
the  peace,  and  he  went  off  then  to  some  more  dis 
tant  part  of  his  great  empire,  immediately  the  Sax 
ons  broke  loose  again  and  the  war  began  anew. 
Charlemagne  was  made  so  bitter  by  this,  that  once 
when  he  had  beaten  the  Saxons  at  Verden  on  the 
Aller  and  surrounded  their  army,  he  ordered  4,500 


32  PlNENEEDLES 

captive  Saxons  to  be  cut  to  pieces,  hoping  so  to 
give  a  disheartening  example.  But  just  the  con 
trary  befel.  Wittekind  and  Albion  now  gathered 
together  an  imposing  army  to  avenge  the  cruel 
deed ;  and  fought  two  bloody  battles  at  Osnabruck 
and  Detmold  with  such  furious  valour  that  they 
thrust  Charlemagne  back,  and  took  4,000  prisoners ; 
and  these  prisoners,  as  a,  Luneburg  chronicle  says, 
they  slaughtered;  part  on  the  Blocksberg,  part  in 
the  Osnabruck  country,  and  part  on  the  "  stone- 
houses";  where  the  same  chronicle  relates  that 
Wittekind,  on  his  black  war-horse,  in  furious  joy, 
would  have  galloped  over  the  bleeding  corpses 
which  lay  around  the  stone-houses;  but  his  horse 
shied  from  treading  on  the  human  bodies,  and 
making  a  tremendous  leap,  struck  his  hoof  so  vio 
lently  against  one  of  the  stone-houses  that  the 
mark  of  the  hoof  remained.  Wittekind  elsewhere 
in  the  chronicle  is  described  as  a  noble,  magnani 
mous  hero ;  and  this  madness  of  war  in  him  is  ex 
plained  on  the  ground  of  his  hatred  of  Christians 
and  revenge  for  the  death  of  the  Saxons  at  Verden. 
" '  At  last,  in  the  year  785,  Wittekind  and  Albion 
were  baptized  and  embraced  the  Christian  religion. 
Thereupon  came  peace,  among  that  part  of  the 
Saxons  which  held  them  in  consideration,  for  the 
most  distinguished  men  by  degrees  followed  their 
example ;  and  it  was  only  in  the  other  portions  of 
the  country  that  the  war  lasted  until  the  year  805 ; 
when  at  last  the  whole  country  of  the  Saxons  sub 
mitted  to  Charlemagne,  renounced  heathenism,  and 


AND    OLD    YARNS.  33 

accepted  Christianity.  So  hard  did  it  go  with  our 
forefathers  before  they  could  become  Christians. 
But  once  Christians,  they  became  so  zealous  for 
the  Christian  faith  that  their  land  afterwards  was 
called  "good  Saxony"  as  before  it  had  been  known 
as  "wild  Saxony."  Charlemagne,  however,  was 
not  merely  at  the  pains  to  subdue  the  Saxons  and 
to  compel  them  into  the  Christian  faith,  but  as  a 
truly  pious  emperor  he  also  took  care  that  they 
should  be  instructed;  and  wherever  he  could  he 
established  bishoprics  and  churches.  For  example, 
the  sees  of  Minden,  Osnabruck,  Verden,  Bremen, 
Munster,  Paderhorn,  Halberstadt,  and  Hildesheim, 
all  situated  in  the  Saxon  country,  owe  their  origin 
to  him.  At  all  these  places  there  were  mission  es 
tablishments,  from  which  preachers  went  out  into 
the  whole  land,  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  hea 
then  Saxons. 

"  'Among  these  Willehad  and  Liudgar  were  distin 
guished  for  their  zeal.  With  untiring  faithfulness, 
with  steadfast  faith,  and  great  self-sacrifice,  they 
laboured,  and  their  works  were  greatly  blessed  of 
the  Lord.  Willehad  finally  became  bishop  in  Bre 
men  and  Liudgar  bishop  of  Munster.  They  may 
with  justice  be  called  the  apostles  of  the  Saxons. 
In  a  remarkable  manner  the  conversion  of  our  own 
parts  hereabouts  proceeded  from  the  mission  estab 
lishment  in  Minden.  Liudgar  had  lived  there  a 
long  while,  and  his  piety  and  his  ardour  had  in 
fected  the  young  monks  assembled  there  with  a 
live  zeal  for  missions.  One  of  these  monks,  who 
3 


34  P I N  E     N  E  E  D  L  E  S 

the  chronicle  tells  came  from  Eastphalia,  and  had 
been  converted  to  Christianity  through  Liudgar's 
means,  was  called  Landolf.  Now  when  Witte- 
kind  and  Albion  had  received  holy  baptism,  and  so 
a  door  was  opened  in  the  Saxon  land  to  the  messen 
gers  of  salvation,  Landolf  could  stand  it  no  long 
er  in  Munden,  but  determined  to  go  back  to  his 
native  Eastphalia  arid  carry  the  sweet  Gospel  to 
his  beloved  countrymen.  He  had  no  rest  day 
nor  night;  the  heathen  Eastphalians  were  always 
standing  before  him  and  calling  to  him,  "Come 
here  and  help  us!'" 

"  There  !  "  said  Meredith  pausing,  "  that's  how  I 
feel." 

Every  one  of  the  three  heads  around  him  was 
lifted  up.  "  You,  Ditto  ?  "  exclaimed  Maggie,  but 
the  others  only  looked. 

"Yes,"  said  Meredith,  "  I  feel  just  so." 

"  About  whom  ?  "  said  his  sister  abruptly. 

"All  the  heathen.  Nobody  in  particular.  Every 
body  who  doesn't  know  the  Lord  Jesus." 

"  You  had  better  begin  at  home ! "  said  Flora 
with  an  accent  of  scorn. 

"  I  do,"  said  her  brother  gravely ;  and  Flora  was 
silent,  for  she  knew  he  did. 

"But  why,  dear  Ditto?"  said  Maggie,  with  a 
mixture  of  anxiety  and  curiosity. 

"  I  am  so  sorry  for  them,  Maggie."  And  watch 
ing,  she  could  see  that  Meredith's  downcast  eyes 
were  swimming.  "Think;  they  do  not  knoiv  Jesus; 
and  what  is  life  worth  without  that  ?  " 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  35 

"But  it  isn't  everybody's  place  to  go  preaching," 
said  Flora  after  a  minute. 

"  Can  you  prove  it  ?     I  think  it  is." 

"  Mine,  for  instance,  and  Maggie's  ?  " 

"What  is  preaching,  in  the  first  place?  It  is 
just  telling  other  people  the  truth  you  know  your 
self.  But  you  must  know  it  first.  I  don't  think  it 
is  your  place  to  tell  what  you  do  not  know.  But 
the  Bible  says,  '  Let  him  that  heareth  say,  come ! ' 
and  I  think  Ave,  who  have  heard,  ought  to  say  it. 
And  I  think,"  added  Meredith  slowly,  "if  anybody 
is  as  glad  of  it  himself  as  he  ought  to  be,  he  can 
not  help  saying  it.  It  will  burn  in  his  heart  if  he 
don't  say  it." 

"  But  what  do  you  want  to  do,  Ditto  ?  "  Maggie 
asked  again. 

"  I  don't  know,  Maggie.  Not  preach  in  churches; 
I  am  not  tit  for  that.  But  I  want  to  tell  all  I  can. 
People  seem  to  me  so  miserable  that  do  not  know 
Christ.  So  miserable !  " 

"But,  Ditto,"  said  Maggie  again,  "you  can  give 
money  to  send  missionaries." 

"  Pay  somebody  else  to  do  my  work  ?  M 

"  You  can  tell  people  here  at  home." 

"Well—"  said  Meredith  with  a  long  breath,  "let 
us  see  what  Landolf  the  Saxon  did." 


36  PINE   NEEDLES 


CHAPTER   III. 

"'What  did  this  man  do  in  the  daring  of  faith? 
He  first  got  permission  of  his  superiors;  then  he 
went  aboard  of  a  little  boat,  took  nothing  else 
with  him  but  his  Bible  and  his  prayer-book,  his 
few  tools,  a  fishing  net,  and  food  for  several  days, 
and  then  dropped  down  the  Weser,  all  alone,  in 
tending  by  that  way  to  get  to  the  Eastphalians. 
But  his  chief  strength  was  prayer,  in  which  he 
lived  day  and  night.  When  he  came  to  the  place 
where  the  Aller  flows  into  the  Weser,  he  quitted 
the  Weser  and  went  up  the  Aller,  that  he  might 
look  at  the  spot  where  those  4,500  Saxons  were  cut 
to  pieces  by  Charlemagne,  and  on  the  ground  pray 
for  the  murdered  men.  For  at  that  time  it  was 
believed  that  even  the  dead  could  be  helped  by 
prayer,  as  is  still  the  erroneous  teaching  of  the 
Catholics.  Leaving  that  place,  he  wished  to  visit 
the  "stone-houses,"  that  he  might  pray  there  too, 
where  the  captive  Franks  had  been  slaughtered  by 
the  Saxons;  and  so  he  went  on  up  the  Aller  and 
from  the  Aller  into  the  Oerze,  all  the  while  living 
upon  the  fish  which  he  caught.' " 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  37 

"  Had  he  no  bread  ?  "  said  Maggie. 

"How  should  he? — going  through  wild  woods 
and  countries  alone  in  his  boat  ?  He  would  come 
to  no  baker's  shops,  Maggie." 

"  Just  living  on  fish !     Well,  go  on,  Ditto." 

"'But  all  along  on  this  journey  he  had  not  only 
caught  fish,  but  also  everywhere  preached  the  Gos 
pel.  And  then  must  have  been  the  first  time  that 
the  sweet  name  of  Jesus  was  ever  heard  in  our  re 
gion.  Perhaps  when  you  look  at  the  map  you  will 
ask,  why  Landolf  went  this  difficult  way  by  water, 
which  was  a  very  roundabout  way  besides,  to  get 
to  the  "stone-houses,"  when  he  could  have  come 
across  from  Verden  by  a  much  nearer  and  straight- 
er  route?  Our  chronicle  gives  two  reasons:  first, 
the  whole  interior  of  the  country  at  that  time  was 
almost  nothing  but  thick  forest  and  deep  morasses, 
through  which  there  was  no  going  on  foot;  and 
secondly,  he  had  been  told  in  Verden,  that  if  he 
wanted  to  visit  the  "stone-houses,"  he  must  first  go 
to  the  Billing  of  the  long-legged  Horz-Saxons,  who 
lived  on  the  river  Horz  in  Harm's  "  ouden  dorp." 
Now  this  river  Horz  is  the  Oerze ;  and  the  name, 
the  chronicle  announces,  comes  from  the  fact  that 
this  river  runs  and  leaps  like  a  Horz — that  is,  a 
horse ;  and  because  a  great  many  horses  were  pas 
tured  on  its  banks.  For  the  chief  wealth  of  our 
Saxon  ancestors  consisted  in  cattle,  especially  in 
horses,  which  they  used  not  only  for  riding  and  in 
war  expeditions,  but  reckoned  their  flesh  a  favour 
ite  food.  And  were  a  horse  but  entirely  spotless 


38  PlNENEEDLES 

and  white,  it  was  even  held  to  be  sacred.  Such 
white  horses  were  kept  in  the  sacred  forests  of  oak, 
where  they  were  used  for  nothing  but  soothsaying ; 
for  by  the  neighing  of  these  white  horses  the  hea 
then  priests  prophesied  whether  a  business,  or  a  cam 
paign,  that  was  in  hand,  would  turn  out  happily 
or  unhappily.  For  this  reason  also  our  Liineburg 
country  since  the  earliest  times  has  borne  the  free, 
bounding  horse  in  its  escutcheon ;  and  for  the  same 
reason  most  of  the  houses  in  the  country  of  Liine 
burg  down  to  the  present  times  have  their  gables 
adorned  with  two  wooden  horses'  heads;  and  it  is 
only  lately  that  this  custom  has  somewhat  fallen  off. 
"'The  Saxons,  or  as  the  chronicle  writes,  Sahzen, 
were  called  "  Horzsahzen,"  either  because  they  lived 
on  the  Horz,  or  Oerze ;  or  because  they  were  almost 
all  of  them  horsemen  and  owned  a  great  many 
horses.  They  bore  besides  the  honorary  title  of 
the  "long-legged,"  for  our  forefathers  were  distin 
guished  by  their  unusual  stature.  It  is  remarkable, 
that  the  name  "Lange"  is  still  the  widest  spread 
family  name  of  any  in  our  region,  so  that  there  are 
villages  that  are  almost  exclusively  inhabited  by 
"  Langen,"  among  whom  a  goodly  number  might 
yet  be  called  "  long-legged " ;  though  many  also 
have  grown  something  shorter,  while  they  never 
theless  bear  the  name  of  Lange.  Well,  that  is  all 
one,  so  they  only  keep  the  old,  tried  faithfulness 
and  honesty,  and  the  manly  holding  to  their  word, 
and  the  beautiful  pureness  of  morals,  for  which  our 
forefathers  were  renowned. 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  39 

"'But  now,  what  sort  of  a  man  is  the  Billing? 
Our  chronicle  translates  the  word  into  Latin ;  cura- 
tos  legum,  that  is,  the  "guardian  of  the  laws."  Bill, 
you  see,  in  old  low  German  or  Saxon,  was  a 
"law"  which  had  been  confirmed  by  the  whole 
assembly  of  the  people;  and  the  man  who  pro 
posed  these  laws,  and  when  they  were  confirmed 
had  the  charge  of  seeing  that  they  were  not  trans 
gressed,  was  called  the  Billing.  The  Billing  of  the 
Horzsahzen  was  at  this  time  a  man  named  Harm ; 
that  is  Hermann;  and  he  lived  in  Harm's  ouden 
dorp — or  Hermann's  old  village.  The  spot  where 
this  old  village  of  Hermann  stood,  is  now  a  culti 
vated  field,  about  ten  minutes  away  from  the  pres 
ent  Hermannsburg ;  and  this  field  is  still  called  at 
the  present  day,  upn  Ollendorp,  and  lies  right  on  the 
Oerze.  To  this  place  accordingly  the  brave  Lan- 
dolf  repaired,  and  was  received  kindly  and  with 
the  customary  Saxon  hospitality  by  Hermann  the 
Billing. 

"  *  Hermann's  dwelling  was  a  large  cottage,  sur 
rounded  with  pens  for  cattle,  especially  for  horses, 
which  were  pastured  on  tire  river  meadows.  There 
were  no  stables;  the  animals  remained  day  and 
night  under  the  open  sky,  and  even  in  winter  time 
had  no  shelter  beyond  that  of  the  thick  forest  with 
which  the  land  was  covered.  The  pens  themselves 
were  merely  enclosures  without  a  roof.  Landolf 
was  entertained  with  roasted  horse's  flesh,  which 
to  the  astonishment  of  his  hosts  he  left  untouched. 
For  by  the  rules  of  th©  Christian  Church  at  that 


40  PINE   NEEDLES 

time  it  was  not  permitted  to  eat  horse-flesh ;  they 
reckoned  it  a  heathen  practice. 

" '  When  Landolf  had  made  his  abode  with  the 
Billing  for  a  while,  he  found  out  that  his  host  was 
in  fact  the  principal  person  in  all  that  district  of 
country,  and  as  guardian  of  the  laws  enjoyed  a 
patriarchal  and  wide-reaching  consideration.  He 
was  indeed  no  editing  (or  nobleman),  only  a  frei- 
ling — a  free  man;  but  he  possessed  seven  large 
manors ;  on  which  account  later  writers,  as  for  in 
stance  Adam  of  Bremen,  give  the  Billing  family 
the  name  of  Siebenmeyer'  (Sieben  means  seven, 
Maggie).  'The  oldest  son,  who  regularly  bore 
the  name  of  Hermann,  was  the  family  head;  and 
after  the  death  of  his  father  the  dignity  of  Billing 
descended  to  him.  The  younger  brothers  were 
settled  in  some  of  the  other  manors,  remaining 
nevertheless  always  dependent  upon  the  oldest. 

"  *  Now  Landolf  preached  the  Gospel  zealously 
to  the  family  whose  guest  he  was,  and  they  lis 
tened  to  him  with  willing  ears.  But  when  he 
would  have  declared  his  message  also  to  the  Sax 
ons  who  lived  in  their  neighbourhood,  Hermann  ex 
plained  to  him  that  by  law  and  usage  he  must  not 
do  that,  until  permission  had  first  been  given  him 
by  the  regular  assembly  of  the  people.  As  the 
house-father  he  himself  could  indeed  in  his  own 
family  allow  the  proclamation  of  the  Christian 
faith;  but  a  public  proclamation  must  have  the 
decision  of  the  people  upon  it;  that  is,  of  the  as 
sembly  of  all  the  free  men.  Landolf  had  arrived 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  41 

in  the  autumn;  the  stated  gathering  of  the  com 
mons  would  not  be  till  spring,  and  indeed  not  till 
May;  in  the  meanwhile  he  must  be  contented. 
Hard  as  it  was  for  Landolf  to  wait  so  long,  for 
his  heart  was  burning  to  convert  the  poor  heathen 
to  Christ,  he  yet  knew  the  people  and  their  cus 
toms  too  well  to  contend  against  them.  So  all 
winter  he  abode  with  Hermann.  And  a  blessed 
winter  that  was.  It  was  the  habit  of  the  family, 
when  at  evening  a  fire  was  kindled  in  the  middle 
of  the  hut,  that  the  whole  household,  men,  women, 
and  children,  even  the  servants  and  maids,  should 
assemble  around  it;  the  master  of  the  house  hav 
ing  the  place  of  honour  in  the  midst  of  them.  The 
house-father  then  generally  told  stories  about  the 
heroic  deeds  of  their  forefathers ;  about  the  ancient 
laws  and  usages,  the  knowledge  of  which  was 
handed  down  from  father  to  son ;  and  Landolf  sat 
among  them  and  listened  with  the  rest;  but  soon 
got  permission  to  tell  on  his  part,  of  the  wonderful 
things  of  the  Christian  faith.  So  then  he  profited 
by  the  long  winter  evenings  to  tell  over  the  whole 
Bible  story  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments.  And 
with  such  simplicity  and  with  such  joy  of  faith 
and  confidence  he  told  it,  that  the  hearts  of  his 
hearers  were  stirred.  In  addition  to  that,  he  often 
sang  the  songs  of  the  Christian  Church,  in  a  clear, 
fine-toned  voice;  and  presently  some  among  them, 
the  younger  especially,  began  to  join  in  the  sing 
ing.  His  Bible  stories  were  in  all  their  mouths; 
and  the  people  had  such  capital  memories  that,  he 


42  PINE   NEEDLES 

says  himself,  lie  needed  usually  to  tell  a  thing  but 
once  or  twice,  and  all  of  them,  even  the  children, 
could  repeat  it  almost  word  for  word.  This  is  a 
common  experience  among  people  who  have  no 
written  literature ;  they  are  apt  to  be  uncommonly 
strong  in  power  of  memory.  And  when  he  prayed 
too,  and  he  did  it  daily  upon  his  knees,  he  was 
never  disturbed,  although  he  prayed  in  the  cot 
tage,  which  had  only  one  room  for  all;  instead, 
he  soon  had  the  joy  of  seeing  that  many  kneeled 
down  with  him  and  with  him  called  upon  Christ, 
"the  God  of  the  Christians,"  as  they  phrased  it. 
So  the  winter  passed,  May  came,  ice  and  snow 
melted  away,  and  everybody  got  ready  to  attend 
the  great  assembly  of  the  people.  It  was  to  be 
held  at  the  stone-houses.  Landolf  travelled  thith 
er  as  Hermann's  guest,  under  his  protection ;  Her 
mann  even  letting  him  ride  his  best  horse,  by  way 
of  doing  him  honour  before  all  the  people.  With 
a  noble  train  of  freilings — that  is,  of  free  men — 
they  set  forth. 

" '  The  first  day,  however,  they  went  no  further 
than  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour  from  Harm's  oiiden 
dorp,  to  a  sacrificial  altar  which  was  placed  close 
by  what  was  called  the  Deep  Moor  (Deepenbroock, 
the  chronicle  says).  There  Landolf  was  to  be 
spectator  of  a  terrible  scene,  which  shews  as  well 
the  frightful  savageness  and  cruelty  of  the  Saxons 
as  their  noble  purity  of  manners.  By  about  noon 
of  the  above-named  day,  all  the  free  men  of  that 
whole  region  had  gathered  together  at  the  altar  of 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  43 

sacrifice.  This  altar  consisted,  as  may  still  be  seen 
by  the  so-called  stone-houses  now  standing,  of  four 
slabs  of  granite  set  up  in  a  quadrangle;  with  four 
openings,  or  doors,  towards  the  four  quarters  of  the 
heaven,  broad  enough  to  let  a  man  go  through; 
and  covered  over  on  the  top  with  another  great, 
granite  block.  The  young  warriors  brought  up 
two  prisoners,  who  had  been  taken  in  a  late  cam 
paign  and  fetched  along.  One  of  them  was  made 
to  go  under  the  sacrifice  altar  through  the  north 
and  south  doors,  the  other  through  the  east  and 
west  doors.  Then  stepped  forth  two  priests,  hav 
ing  their  long,  flowing  hair  bound  with  a  mistletoe 
branch,  and  a  sharp  knife  of  flint  in  the  hand. 
You  must  know  that  the  mistletoe,  which  is  still 
to  be  found  in  plenty  in  our  woods,  growing  espe 
cially  on  birch  trees,  was  held  among  our  fore 
fathers  to  be  sacred.  For  since  it  does  not  grow 
upon  the  ground  like  other  plants,  but  upon  trees, 
birches  particularly,  it  was' believed  that  the  seed 
of  this  plant  fell  down  from  heaven;  and  this 
belief  was  strengthened  by  the  remarkable  manner 
of  its  growth,  so  unlike  other  plants,  with  its  fork 
ing  opposite  branches  and  shining  white  berries. 
After  solemn  prayers,  which  were  half  sung,  half 
said,  to  the  two  gods  Woden  and  Thor,  and  the 
two  goddesses  Hela  and  Hertha,  the  captive  men 
were  one  after  the  other  laid  each  upon  his  back 
on  the  altar,  so  that  his  head  hung  down  over  the 
edge  of  the  altar/  " 

44  0  stop,  Ditto  ! "  cried  Maggie. 


44  PINE   NEEDLES 

"Why?" 

"  It  is  too  horrible*" 

"  It  is  pretty  horrible.  But  men  did  it,  and  men 
suffered  it.  Can't  you  hear  it  ?  " 

"  Men  were  dreadful !  " 

"  Men  are  dreadful,  where  the  light  of  the  Gos 
pel  has  not  come.  '  The  dark  places  of  the  earth 
are  full  of  the  habitations  of  cruelty.' " 

"  Tell  me  about  those  gods  and  goddesses." 

"  Were  those  Saxon  Druids  ?  "  Flora  asked. 

"  It  sounds  so.  But  I  don't  know  the  gods  of  the 
Teutons  as  well  as  I  do  those  of  the  Greeks ;  I  can't 
tell  you  much  about  Woden  and  Thor,  Maggie. 
We'll  look  when  we  go  home.  Now  am  I  to  go 
on?" 

"I  suppose  so.  0  yes,  I  want  you  to  go  on. 
But  it  is  dreadful." 

"Well,  the  captives  werfc  laid  on  the  altar,  as  I 
read,  'and  the  priests  cut  their  throats  with  their 
knives  of  flint.  When  the  quivering  victim  had 
ceased  to  bleed,  the  body  was  taken  up  by  the 
young  warriors  and  cast  into  the  Deep  Moor,  where 
it  immediately  sunk  in  the  bog.  Landolf  had  not 
recovered  from  the  shock — for  he  had  never  seen  a 
human  sacrifice  before,  having  gone  while  yet  a 
boy  into  the  country  of  the  Christians — when  his 
attention  was  fettered  by  another  dreadful  drama. 

" '  Some  of  the  young  men  fetched  a  long  and 
broad  hurdle  woven  of  fir  branches;  laid  it  down 
before  the  altar,  and  went  away;  but  came  back 
again  presently  with  a  man  and  a  woman,  who 


AND    OLD    YARNS.  45 

had  been  accused  and  convicted  of  breaking  the 
marriage  vow.  An  accuser  stepped  forth,  and  re 
peated  the  charge  before  the  Billing.  The  Billing 
then  asked  the  accused  whether  the  charge  was 
true;  and  admonished  them  to  confess  the  truth, 
since  never  yet  had  a  free  Saxon  told  a  lie.  And 
when  the  guilty  people  had  owned  their  guilt,  first 
their  relations  came  forward  and  spat  in  their  faces ; 
then  the  man's  weapons  were  taken  from  him,  his 
hands  and  feet  and  the  woman's  were  tied  together: 
and  so  tied  they  were  thrown  into  the  Deep  Moor, 
the  hurdle  covered  over  them,  and  this  and  the  un 
derlying  bodies,  by  their  nearest  relations  first  of 
all,  were  trodden  down  into  the  deep  morass.  So 
came  the  marriage-breakers  to  a  shameful  end  and 
received  the  reward  of  their  sin. 

'"Herman  told  Landolf  afterwards  that  there 
were  three  crimes  which  they  punished  on  this  dis 
graceful  wise — marriage-breaking,  lying,  and  cow 
ardice;  because  such  people  were  not  held  worthy 
to  die  the  honourable  death  of  a  warrior,  and  be 
slain  with  weapons.  Landolf  answered,  U0  Billing, 
you  are  terrible  people!  yet  even  as  heathen  you 
hate  the  sins  that  you  know.  What  would  you  be, 
if  you  were  once  Christians,  and  the  Lord  Jesus 
gave  you  His  light ! " 

"'And  as  I  write  down  these  words  from  the 
old  chronicle,  I  could  cast  my  eyes  to  the  ground 
for  shame  and  weep  tears  of  blood  over  the  deep, 
shameful  apostasy  of  the  German  Christianity  of 
the  present  day.  Christ  gives  us  his  light  now ;  we 


46  PlNENEEDLES 

are  Christians  now ;  but  where  have  purity,  truth, 
and  courage  hid  themselves?  Are  there  ten  in  a 
hundred  German  Christians  that  keep  a  pure  life, 
true  lips,  and  a  brave  heart?  I  do  not  think  it. 
Open  and  secret  impurity,  coarse  and  polished  false 
hood,  disgraceful  cowardliness,  fear  of  men  and  men- 
pleasing,  have  infested  the  whole  German  Chris 
tian  nation,  and  will  soon  bring  down  the  judg 
ment  of  God;  for  "the  bruise  is  incurable,  and  the 
wound  is  grievous."  Great  and  small,  men  and 
women,  old  and  young,  all  are  tainted  with  the 
plague.  Our  heathen  forefathers  were  better  and 
cleaner  in  these  things  than  we  Christians;  they 
will  condemn  us  at  the  last  judgment;  and  we 
shall  have  to  stand  abashed  before  them.  And 
you  that  read  this,  if  you  prize  the  name  of  a  Ger 
man;  if,  as  you  should,  you  prize  a  thousand  times 
more  the  name  of  a  Christian ;  ask  your  conscience 
whether  it  has  not  been  uneasy  under  the  fore 
going  narration;  and  if  it  has,  then  repent,  you 
degenerate  German,  you  hypocritical  Christian ;  re 
pent  in  sackcloth  and  ashes;  and  on  your  knees 
implore  your  God,  the  living  Saviour:  "Jesus  my 
Lord,  thou  holy  God,  give  me  a  pure  nature,  a  lip 
of  faithfulness,  and  a  bold  heart,  through  the  faith 
that  is  in  Thee." 

"  'And  now  I  must  go  on  to  tell  what  more  befell 
that  same  day,  in  which  the  devilish  nature  of 
heathenism  among  our  forefathers  was  shewn  as 
frightfully  as  in  their  murderous  sacrifices.  Far  be 
hindhand  as  our  ancestors  at  that  time  were  in  all 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  47 

civilization,  they  nevertheless  already  understood 
the  art  of  preparing  intoxicating  drinks.  For  this 
purpose  they  used  especially  the  wild  oats  which 
grew  all  over,  and  the  darnel  grass;  of  which  a 
strong,  intoxicating  beer  was  brewed ;  and  to  make 
it  yet  more  stupefying  they  added  a  certain  marsh 
plant.  And  scarce  ever  was  there  a  sacrifice  that 
was  not  concluded  with  a  drinking-bout.  So  it  fell 
out  at  this  time.  Many  writers  tell,  how  among 
the  old  Germans  it  was  even  made  a  boast  to 
spend  eight  or  even  fourteen  days,  one  after  an 
other,  in  such  carousals.  On  the  occasion  of  which 
we  are  speaking,  indeed,  they  lasted  only  over  the 
rest  of  that  day  and  through  the  night;  for  the 
next  day  the  intent  was  to  go  on  to  the  stone- 
houses.  But  what  horror  must  Landolf  have  felt 
even  in  that  short  time !  When  all  of  them  had 
got  drunk,  a  quarrel  sprang  up ;  and  as  each  man 
had  his  weapons  with  him,  his  war-axe  especially, 
the  quarrel  came  to  duels  between  man  and  man; 
and  soon  blood  was  flowing  from  most  of  the  peo 
ple,  and  several  corpses  lay  here  and  there.  The 
bodies  were  burned,  their  ashes  buried,  and  a  round 
hillock  of  earth  thrown  up  over  them;  for,  as  it 
was  thought,  they  had  fallen  in  honourable  fight, 
as  it  became  men  to  do.  And  when  Landolf  full 
of  astonishment  asked  the  Billing,  who  of  all  the 
crowd  was  the  only  one  that  had  remained  sober, 
whether  they  did  not  then  punish  people  for  mur 
der?  the  Billing  in  wonder  retorted  by  the  ques 
tion,  where  the  murderers  were  ?  There  had  been 


48  PINE  NEEDLES 

nothing  but  an  open,  honest  fight,  which  was  to 
the  honour  of  those  concerned  in  it. 

"'Yet  another  abomination  Landolf  saw  on  this 
occasion;  which,  however,  was  in  a  remarkable 
manner  mixed  up  with  truth  and  noblemindedness. 
I  mean,  that  while  this  drinking-bout  was  going 
on,  a  number  of  men,  young  and  old,  amused  them 
selves  with  gaming,  of  which  they  were  passion 
ately  fond.  To  be  sure  they  had  no  cards,  neither 
dice.  But  they  had  little  longish,  square-cornered, 
wooden  sticks,  shaved  white,  and  with  certain 
marks  painted  on  the  upper  side.  Each  man  took 
a  certain  number  of  these  in  both  hands,  shook 
them,  and  threw  them  up  in  the  air.  When  they 
fell  011  the  ground,  they  were  carefully  looked  at  to 
see  how  many  of  them  lay  with  the  painted  side 
up,  and  how  many  with  the  unpainted;  and  who 
ever  then  had  the  most  sticks  with  the  painted 
side  up,  he  had  won.  Upon  each  throw  they  set 
some  of  their  cattle,  a  hog,  a  cow  or  an  ox,  or  a 
horse;  perhaps  at  last  a  specially  prized  drinking 
vessel,  made  out  of  a  ure-ox  horn;  even  finally 
what  they  held  to  be  most  valuable  of  all,  their 
weapons;  and  at  last  Landolf  saw  a  young  man, 
who  had  lost  all  he  had,  cast  his  freedom  upon  the 
last  throw;  and  when  this  too  was  lost,  he  saw 
how  frankly  and  without  grumbling  he  gave  him 
self  up  to  be  the  slave  of  his  fellow-player;  so  fast 
the  German,  even  amid  the  bewilderments  of  sin, 
held  to  truth  and  the  inviolable  keeping  of  his 
word  once  given.  Liberty  was  truly  his  most  val- 


AND    OLD    YARNS.  49 

uable  and  precious  possession,  for  which  at  any 
other  time  he  was  ready  to  die,  arms  in  hand. 
And  yet  he  yielded  this  treasure  quietly  up,  when 
he  had  lost  it  at  play,  rather  than  break  his  word 
and  his  faith;  if  he  were  the  stronger,  he  did  not 
defend  himself;  he  did  not  take  to  flight,  though 
he  might  have  a  hundred  opportunities;  the  free 
man  who  gloried  in  his  freedom,  became  a  slave, 
that  he  might  keep  faith.  This  was  how  Landolf 
found  things  among  the  heathen;  he  wept  bitter 
tears  over  it;  but  he  never  desponded:  so  much 
the  firmer  grew  his  resolution  to  preach  the  Gos 
pel  to  this  people  and  make  the  true  God  known 
to  them.  For  the  thought  always  rose  in  him, 
what  might  come  of  a  people  whom  God  had  so 
nobly  endowed,  among  whom  even  in  the  abomi 
nations  of  idolatry  there  shone  forth  such  traits  of 
pureness  of  manners  and  nobleness  of  thought, 
were  they  but  once  renewed  and  born  again  by 
the  glorious  Christian  faith. 

"  '  But  if  Landolf  were  to  come  to  light  again  in 
these  days,  when  we  are  Christians,  what  would 
he  say  of  us?  Outward  culture  truly  he  would 
find;  the  face  of  the  earth  would  indeed  have 
changed.  But  if  he  came  into  the  inns,  where 
drinking  and  gaming  are  going  on;  into  the  so- 
called  Jhyhvrs:  into  the  assemblies  for  eating  and 
drinking  and  playing  at  weddings  and  house  warm 
ings  and  christenings;  or  into  the  private  drinking 
and  gaming  parties  in  people's  houses ;  the  gaming 
hells  at  the  watering-places;  the  drinking  carou- 
4 


50  PINE   NEEDLES 

sals  of  students ;  the  companies  of  the  noble ;  the  so- 
called  entertainments  with  which  everything  must 
be  celebrated  in  Germany — how  confounded  would 
he  be,  to  find  that  the  drinking  and  gaming  devil 
is  still  the  ruling  devil  in  Germany !  but  on  the 
other  hand,  faith  and  truth  are  extinguished.  It 
is  true,  what  the  old  song  says — "  most  are  Chris 
tians  only  in  name.  God's  true  seed  are  thinly 
scattered,  those  who  love  and  honour  Christ  and 
do  His  pleasure!"  Well,  God  mend  it.'" 

Meredith  shut  up  his  book. 

"  Ditto,"  said  Maggie  thoughtfully,  "  is  it  so  bad 
here?" 

"  How  do  I  know,  Maggie  ?  " 

"  But  what  do  you  think  ?  " 

Flora  lifted  up  her  head.  "Now,  Meredith,  don't 
go  and  say  something  absurd." 

"  What  do  you  want  me  to  say  ?  " 

"Why  the  truth!  that  there  are  a  greac  many 
nice  people  in  America." 

"  I  have  no  doubt,  so  there  are  in  Germany." 

"  Then  that  talk  is  all  stuff." 

"  Pastor  Harms  never  talked  stuff." 

"  How  do  you  know  ?  " 

"  I  have  read  enough  of  him  to  know.  He  was 
one  of  those  he  calls  God's  true  seed." 

"Then  what  did  he  mean?  Or  what  do  you 
mean  ?  " 

"Well,  Flora,  I  will  ask  you  a  question:  How 
many  people  do  you  know,  who  live  to  do  Christ's 
will?" 


AND   OLD  YARNS.  51 

Flora  did  not  answer  immediately.  Maggie  on 
her  part  went  to  calculating. 

"  I  know — I  know — three !  "  she  said  slowly. 

"  Three  !  "  said  Flora.     "  Who  are  they  ?  " 

"  That's  not  the  question,  Flo,"  said  her  brother. 
"  How  many  do  you  know  ?  " 

"Well,"  said  Flora,  "Mr.  Murray  is  one;  and 
you  are  another,  I  believe;  but  there  are  othei 
nice  people  in  the  world." 

"  I  know  people  drink,"  said  Maggie,  so  gravely 
and  sagely  that  the  others  laughed.  "  I  do  know. 
I  have  seen  them  at  our  house.  You  needn't  say 
anything,  Esther;  I  have,  once  or  twice  when  I 
have  been  at  dinner,  when  you  were  not  at  home. 
Not  papa,  of  course;  and  they  don't  do  it  now; 
papa  won't  have  wine  on  the  table  at  all;  but  I 
saw  how  they  did.  Some  of  the  gentlemen  began 
with  whiskey  and  water,  and  one  took  brandy  and 
water,  before  dinner  began." 

"  0  stop,  Maggie !  "  Esther  exclaimed. 

"No,  but  I  want  to  tell  you.  Then  they  took 
Greek  wine  or  Sauterne  with  their  soup.  Then 
they  took  champagne  with  the  dinner.  Then  they 
had  port  wine  with  the  cheese — 0  I  recollect,  Es 
ther—and  then  they  had  Madeira  and  sherry  with 
dessert,  and  claret  and  Madeira  and  sherry  with 
the  fruit.  And  some  of  them  drank  every  one.  I 
am  glad  papa  won't  have  wine  at  all  now.  Uncle 
Eden  wouldn't,  a  good  while  ago." 

"  People  used  in  England,  not  very  long  ago,  to 
drink  a  bottle  or  two  of  wine  after  dinner  each 


52  PINE   NEEDLES 

man,"  said  Meredith;  "but  it  is  not  quite  so  bad 
as  that  nowadays." 

Flora  was  vexed,  but  silent ;  she  too  remembered 
bowls  of  punch  and  baskets  of  champagne  in  her 
father  s  time. 

"And  gaming — "  said  Maggie,  and  stopped. 

"What?"  said  Meredith. 

"  I  was  thinking  how  fond  Fenton  was  of  it." 

"  0  hush,  Maggie !  he  wasn't ! "  Esther  exclaimed. 

"It  was  just  the  same  thing,  Uncle  Eden  said." 

"Where  is  Fenton  ?  "  said  Meredith. 

"  He's  coming  to-morrow.  He  likes  champagne 
too,  and  other  wine  when  he  can  get  it.  And  Bol 
ivar — Bolivar  put  something  in  his  lemonade !  " 

"Why,  Maggie,"  said  Meredith  smiling  and  pass 
ing  his  hand  gently  over  the  little  girl's  head,  "you 
are  taking  gloomy  views  of  life !  " 

"I  was  only  thinking,  Ditto.  But  it  seems  to 
me  so  very  strange  that  people  should  be  worse 
now  than  when  they  were  heathen  Saxons." 

"  People  are  a  mixture  now,  you  must  remember. 
The  good  part  are  a  great  deal  better ;  and  I  sup 
pose  the  bad  part  are  a  great  deal  worse." 

"Worse  than  the  heathen!"  cried  Flora. 

"Well  judge  for  yourself.  But  darkness  in  the 
midst  of  light  is  always  the  blackest,  and  not  only 
by  contrast  either." 

"If  you  think  people  are  so  awful,  I  should 
think  you  would  go  to  work  and  preach  to  them," 
said  Esther. 

"  I  will,"  said  Meredith  calmly. 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  53 

"  Then  what  will  you  do  with  Meadow  Park  ?  " 

"0  he  proposes  to  turn  that  into  a  hospital." 

"A  hospital!—" 

"Flora  is  romancing  a  little,"  said  her  brother. 
"  There  are  no  infirmaries  put  up  yet.  How  sweet 
this  place  is !  Do  you  smell  the  fir  trees  and  pines  ? 
The  air  is  a  spice-box." 

"  The  air  a  box !  "  cried  Maggie  laughing. 

"  I  mean  it  is  full  of  perfumes,  like  a  spice-box. 
And  these  old  stones,  laid  up  here  by  the  sol 
diers'  hands  of  a  hundred  years  ago,  just  make  a 
dining  place  for  us  now.  But  it's  pretty !  And  the 
air  is  nectar." 

"You  can  choose  whether  you  will  smell  it,  or 
swallow  it,"  remarked  his  sister. 

"By  your  leave  I  will  do  both.  Well,  shall  I  go 
on?" 


54  PINE   NEEDLES 


CHAPTEK   IV. 

"  *  The  morning  after  the  sacrificial  feast  at  the 
Deep  Moor,  Landolf  with  the  Billing  and  the  free 
men  travelled  on  to  the  May  diet  which  was  to 
be  held  at  the  seven  stone-houses,  and  before  noon 
came  to  the  place.  There  were  an  enormous  crowd 
of  free  men  assembled;  priests,  nobles,  and  com 
mons.  The  place  lies  in  the  middle  of  a  vast,  lev 
el  heath,  on  the  soft  declivity  of  a  rising  ground, 
which  on  the  other  side  falls  away  sharply  down 
to  a  boggy  dell.  I  have  already  described  the 
stone-houses.  There  are  seven  of  them;  a  num 
ber  which  must  have  been  held  sacred  among 
the  Saxons.  At  least  in  our  country  the  so-called 
"  Huhnen  "  graves  in  which  our  forefathers  lie  bur 
ied,  are  always  found  either  alone,  or  constantly 
by  sevens  together  in  a  wide  circle.  The  spot  on 
which  the  stone-houses  stand  must  have  been  sa 
cred  to  Woden;  for  in  the  chronicle  it  is  called 
"  Wuotanswohrt,"  and  wolirt  in  Saxon  always  means 
a  secluded,  enclosed,  sacred  place,  especially  de 
voted  to  the  administration  of  justice;  for  courts 
of  justice  were  held  under  the  open  sky  and  always 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  55 

by  day;  as  though  to  denote  that  justice  is  of 
heavenly  origin,  courts  the  light  of  sunshine  and 
shuns  the  darkness.  The  word  icohrt  is  connected 
with  luehren'  (which  means,  to  keep  off',  Maggie), 
*  because  every  thing  unholy  must  be  kept  off  from 
it,  on  which  account  also  such  places  were  hedged 
in.  Of  the  transactions  at  this  May  diet  it  is  only 
told,  that  a  great  sacrifice  was  offered,  this  time 
consisting  of  fourteen  men,  two  of  whom  were 
slaughtered  upon  each  of  the  stone-houses  in  the 
manner  already  described;  that  then  cases  of  law 
were  decided  according  to  the  ancient  usage ;  then 
the  state  of  things  between  the  Saxons  and  the 
Franks  was  considered;  and  at  this  opportunity 
Landolf,  who  as  guest  of  the  Billing  had  been  pres 
ent  at  all  the  discussions,  begged  to  be  permitted  to 
speak,  and  asked  for  leave  to  preach  Christianity 
in  the  country.  Scarcely  had  he  preferred  his  re 
quest,  when  threatening  and  distrustful  looks  were 
directed  upon  him  from  almost  all  present,  and 
many  a  hand  grasped  to  the  war-axe;  for  at  the 
word  Christianity,  men's  thoughts  at  once  flew  to 
the  Franks,  those  hitherto  enemies  of  the  Saxons, 
by  whom  after  three  and  thirty  years  of  fighting 
they  had  at  last  been  subdued.  The  Billing  im 
mediately  observed  the  excitement,  and  before  any 
of  it  could  get  open  expression  he  himself  was  upon 
his  feet.  He  related  that  Landolf  was  no  Frank, 
but  an  Eastphalian,  and  so  of  their  own  people  and 
race ;  that  when  a  boy  he  had  been  taken  prisoner 
by  the  Franks  in  the  war  and  carried  to  the  Franks' 


56  PINE   NEEDLES 

country,  where  he  had  been  converted  to  Christi 
anity  and  had  been  a  pupil  of  the  good  Liudgar, 
who  himself  was  a  Saxon  and  known  by  report  to 
all  Saxons.  That  afterwards  he  had  lived  with  this 
Liudgar  in  the  country  of  their  brethren  the  West- 
phalians ;  and  half  a  year  before  this  time  had  come 
to  him  quite  alone  and  become  his  guest.  And  as 
his  guest  he  would  protect  the  man,  since  he  had 
done  nothing  contrary  to  the  customs  and  usages 
of  the  Saxon  people.  In  his  own  home  he  had  per 
mitted  him  to  preach  Christianity;  and  now  here, 
in  the  assembly  of  the  people,  according  to  ancient 
law  and  usage,  Landolf  desired  to  ask  whether  he 
might  be  allowed  to  proclaim  openly  in  the  coun 
try  the  Gospel  of  the  God  of  the  Christians.  This 
must  now  be  regularly  debated  in  the  assembly  of 
the  people ;  and  he  gave  permission  to  Landolf  that 
free  and  unmolested  he  might  say  out  his  wishes 
and  tell  exactly  what  the  Christian  belief  was. 
Then  every  one  might  give  his  opinion. 

" '  Now  Landolf  rose  up.  His  tall  figure,  his  no 
ble  presence,  and  the  fearless,  frank,  spirited  glance 
of  his  eye  round  the  circle,  made  a  deep  impres 
sion;  and  in  noiseless  silence  the  assembly  lis 
tened  to  his  speech,  the  first  preaching  that  ever 
was  held  in  our  country.  This  short,  simple  dis 
course  has  so  grown  into  my  heart  and  I  like  it 
so  much,  that  I  shall  give  it  here.'  Flora,  are  you 
listening?" 

"Of  course." 

"I  didn't  know  but  you  were  too  busy  counting 


ANDOLDYARNS.  57 

your  stitches.     I  want  you  to  hear  this  speech  of 
Landolf '  s.     It  is  very  fine. 

"  * "  In  the  name  of  God,  the  Father,  the  Son,  and 
the  Holy  Ghost,  the  only  true  God.  Amen.  Men 
and  brethren  hear  my  words.  One  hundred  years 
ago  "  (A.  D.  960,  according  to  the  chronicle),  "  came 
two  pious  Christian  priests  to  you,  to  make  known 
to  your  fathers  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  the  true  God ; 
they  were  the  dark  and  the  fair  Ewald.  They  were 
your  own  relations,  they  came  from  England ;  they 
were  your  friends,  they  had  left  England  and  come 
over  the  sea  for  the  love  of  you;  they  were  your 
guests,  they  had  been  sheltered  in  your  houses. 
They  wanted  to  let  you  know  that  God  has  be 
come  your  Brother,  that  he  might  deliver  you  from 
your  sins.  You  would  not  let  them  preach  in  your 
land ;  you  were  free  not  to  do  that ;  but  you  mur 
dered  them;  here  on  these  stones  you  slew  them 
in  honour  of  Woden;  your  brothers,  your  friends, 
your  guests,  you  murdered,  who  had  done  you  no 
evil.  Since  that  time,  the  true  God,  the  God  of  the 
Christians,  has  been  angry  with  you.  You  num 
ber  as  many  as  the  Franks  do;  you  are  just  as 
brave  as  they.  Yet  Charlemagne,  the  Frank,  has 
conquered  and  subdued  you.  How  is  that  ?  God 
fought  with  Charlemagne ;  He  loved  him ;  he  is  a 
Christian.  God  fought  against  you,  for  you  have 
killed  his  priests ;  you  are  murderers.  You  can  kill 
me  too.  Do  it ;  I  am  not  afraid  of  death ;  I  am  the 
servant  of  God;  if  you  kill  me,  God  will  take  me 
up  to  heaven.  God's  anger  will  not  depart  from 


58  PINE   NEEDLES 

you,  unless  you  become  Christians.  Why  will  you 
not  become  Christians?  Your  gods  are  good  for 
nothing ;  they  cannot  help  you ;  they  have  not  been 
able  to  stand  -before  the  Christian's  God.  Where 
is  your  Irrriensul?  Charlemagne  has  broken  it  to 
pieces."  (Irmensul  was  an  idol  image  that  stood  at 
Hildesheim).  "  Where  is  your  Wodensaak?  Charle 
magne  has  cut  it  down."  (This  Woden's  oak  stood 
at  Verden  on  the  Aller).  "Where  is  your  Hela- 
wohrt  ?  Charlemagne  has  destroyed  it."  (The  sa 
cred  place  of  the  goddess  Hela  was  on  the  Aller,  in 
what  is  now  the  suburb  Heelen  at  Celle).  "Where 
are  your  brave  leaders,  Wittekind  and  Albion  ? 
They  have  become  Charlemagne's  friends  and  vas 
sals;  they  are  Christians.  Do  you  think  it  was 
Charlemagne  that  subdued  them?  No,  a  greater 
One,  the  God  of  the  Christians  has  subdued  them. 
Charlemagne  indeed  often  overthrew  them;  but 
the  Christian's  God  has  conquered  them.  Do  you 
know  how  that  came  about?  I  have  heard  in 
Munster,  and  I  will  tell  you. 

'""After  the  last  battle  they  lost — you  know 
about  that,  your  young  men  bled  there  too — before 
peace  was  concluded,  the  brave  Wittekind  said  to 
his  brother  in  arms,  Albion,  '  Come,  let  us  go !  we 
will  pay  a  visit  to  Charlemagne  in  his  fortress,  and 
take  a  look  at  his  power;  for  he  is  the  greatest  in 
the  land.'  So  the  bold  heroes  set  forth;  hiding 
their  strong  frames  under  the  dress  of  beggars; 
for  they  wished  to  remain  unknown,  and  to  see  and 
prove  for  themselves.  Fear  was  not  in  their  brave 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  59 

hearts.  They  travelled  and  travelled  for  days  and 
days;  and  wherever  they  came,  Christians  gave 
them  food.  Then  they  questioned  with  one  anoth 
er — '  Is  this  what  Christians  are  ? '  They  were 
many  nights  on  their  journeyings,  and  wherever 
they  came  the  Christians  took  them  in,  although 
they  were  beggars.  Then  they  asked  one  another, 
*  Is  this  what  Christians  are  ? '  Many  a  time  they 
lost  their  way,  in  cities,  villages,  and  fields;  the 
Christians  set  them  right,  and  they  said  to  each 
other  in  astonishment,  '  Is  this  what  the  Christians 
are?'  At  last  they  came  to  Ingelheim."  (The 
chronicle  names  Ingelheim,  and  not  Aix-la-Cha- 
pelle.)  "They  went  through  the  city,  admiring  the 
handsome  houses  and  magnificent  streets,  till  they 
came  to  a  large  house,  the  largest  of  all  they  had 
hitherto  seen.  '  This  must  be  Charlemagne's  dwell 
ing,'  said  they;  'for  certainly  he  is  the  greatest  man 
among  his  people?'  They  went  in;  they  heard 
singing,  that  sounded  as  if  it  came  down  from 
heaven.  They  went  further  in;  there  stood  up  in 
the  chancel  a  man  in  a  white  dress  (it  was  a  priest 
in  white  church  robes)  who  was  speaking:  'Hear, 
you  who  believe  the  glad  message ;  the  great  God 
in  heaven  loves  you.  He  loves  you  so  much  that 
he  sent  his  dear  son  Jesus  Christ  to  you.  Jesus 
Christ  came  down  from  heaven;  God's  son  became 
your  brother,  so  little  and  poor  that  he  lay  in  a  man 
ger  in  the  stall  for  cattle.  When  he  was  grown  up, 
he  preached  everywhere  and  said,  Sinners,  turn,  and 
I  will  save  you.  He  made  the  lame  to  go  and  the 


60  PINE   NEEDLES 

blind  to  see,  and  healed  the  sick,  and  raised  up  the 
dead  that  lay  in  their  graves.  He  shed  his  blood 
for  sinners;  sinners  put  him  to  death.  He  was 
still  kind  to  them  in  his  death,  and  prayed  for  his 
murderers,  Father  forgive  them !  for  they  know  not 
what  they  do.  They  buried  him.  But  can  God 
stay  in  the  grave  ?  Lo !  after  three  days  the  earth 
quaked  and  the  rocks  rent;  Jesus  rose  up  out  of 
the  grave,  Jesus  went  up  to  heaven,  and  sits  now 
again  upon  the  throne  of  his  Father,  God.  He 
reigns;  he  commands:  Eepent  and  I  will  save  you, 
you  shall  come  into  my  heaven  and  reign  with  me.' 
"  '"So  preached  the  priest.  There  stood  the  two 
heroes  in  astonishment,  but  they  were  to  be  yet 
more  astonished.  Lo!  a  tall  man  steps  forward 
through  the  church  up  to  the  altar,  where  the 
priest  was  standing;  and  a  crown  was  upon  his 
head.  It  was  the  King  Charlemagne.  The  two 
heroes  knew  him,  and  yet  they  did  not  know  him. 
Was  this  the  mighty  hero,  whose  flashing  sword 
in  battle  struck  and  slew?  Was  this  the  man 
whose  eyes  blazed  with  the  fire  of  battle?  He 
wears  no  sword  here ;  his  eyes  sparkle  peacefully ; 
as  he  stands  before  the  altar,  he  humbly  takes  his 
crown  off  and  sets  it  on  the  ground;  then  he  bows 
his  knee  upon  the  steps  of  the  altar  and  prays  to 
Jesus  Christ,  the  God  of  the  Christians;  and  all 
the  people  fall  upon  their  knees,  and  the  heavenly 
music  of  them  who  are  singing  praises  swells  out 
again — '  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest ;  and  on  earth 
peace,  good-will  to  men.'  Then  Charlemagne  rises 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  61 

and  sits  down  in  a  chair,  and  the  man  in  white 
clothing  preaches  of  Jesus,  who  came  to  save  sin 
ners  ;  and  Charlemagne  bows  his  high  head  so 
often  as  the  name  of  Jesus  is  named.  Then  the 
priest  blesses  the  congregation ;  the  service  is  over. 
'""It  was  not  Charlemagne's  house,  in  which 
they  were;  it  was  God's  house,  in  which  Charle 
magne  had  been  praying.  God  is  greater  than  Char 
lemagne,  and  so  must  God's  house  be  the  biggest  in 
the  city.  The  brothers  in  arms  went  forth  of  the 
church.  Before  the  church  door  there  was  a  great 
crowd  of  beggars,  in  garments  like  their  own. 
Gentle  and  kind,  Charlemagne  goes  to  the  poor 
people,  giving  each  one  a  piece  of  money  and  say 
ing,  '  God  bless  it  to  you,  my  children ;  pray  for 
me  too.'  'Is  that  King  Charlemagne?'  the  he 
roes  asked  each  other  by  their  astonished  looks. 
Then  the  king  steps  up  to  them,  looks  at  them 
graciously,  and  says — 'You  have  never  been  here 
before,  my  friends;  come  into  my  house,  and  I 
will  give  you  your  portion.'  He  goes  on  and  they 
follow  him.  They  come  into  his  house,  which 
was  smaller  than  God's  house.  They  go  into  his 
apartment;  there  he  dismisses  the  attendants,  goes 
up  to  Wittekind  and  Albion,  offers  them  his  hand 
like  a  brother  and  says  :  *  Welcome  to  my  cita 
del,  you  brave  Saxon  heroes !  God  has  heard  my 
prayer ;  my  foes  are  becoming  my  friends.  Put  off 
your  rags.  I  will  dress  you  as  princes  should  be 
dressed ! '  And  he  had  princely  robes  put  upon 
them,  and  said  further — 'Now  you  are  my  guests; 


62  PINE   NEEDLES 

and  soon  I  hope,  the  guests  of  the  Lord  my  God 
also.'  The  two  heroes  had  not  expected  this,  that 
Charlemagne  should  know  them  in  their  disguise; 
much  less,  that  he  would  treat  them  so  nobly,  and 
brotherly.  Fourteen  days  later,  the  priest  in  white 
garments  baptized  them  in  the  name  of  God  the 
Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost;  and  they 
swore  allegiance  to  the  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ. 

"'"You  men,  this  is  the  way  that  your  heroes 
have  led  the  way  for  you.  Saxons,  will  you  for 
sake  your  dukes?  The  curse  of  sin  has  been  cleared 
away  from  them.  Now  I  have  come  to  you ;  I  too 
am  a  priest  of  Jesus  Christ:  I  would  gladly  teach 
you  and  clear  the  curse  of  sin  away  from  you,  that 
you  may  be  saved  and  come  to  heaven.  Say,  shall 
I  preach  among  you?  or  will  you  kill  me  too,  as 
you  killed  the  two  Ewalds?  Here  I  am;  but  in 
the  midst  of  you  I  am  also  in  God's  hand." 

"  *  Landolf  ceased.  The  whole  assembly  had 
heard  him  in  silence;  even  the  heathen  priests 
had  listened.  Then  the  Billing  lifted  up  his  voice 
and  spoke :  "  Landolf,  my  guest  and  friend,  thou 
hast  spoken  well,  and  thou  hast  been  a  good  man 
in  my  house;  I  will  hear  thee  further.  Brothers, 
let  us  decide  that  Landolf  shall  be  free  to  go  about 
in  our  country  and  preach.  It  is  no  dishonour  to 
bow  the  knee  before  that  God  who  is  Charle 
magne's  God  and  the  God  of  the  Christians;  it  is 
no  shame  to  pray  to  that  God  who  has  conquered 
our  brave  heroes.  Decide !  " 

"'Then  stepped  forth  an  old  man  with  white 


AND    OLD    YARNS.  63 

hair,  who  was  the  oldest  man  in  the  assembly,  and 
spoke:  "  Cast  the  lot!" 

"'The  young  men  made  ready  seven  little  sticks, 
square-cornered,  of  oak  wood,  marked  on  the  upper 
side  with  sacred  signs.  One  of  the  heathen  priests, 
the  chronicle  calls  him  Walo,  shook  them  in  his 
hands  and  then  threw  them  up  in  the  air.  Dur 
ing  this  time,  Landolf  was  upon  his  knees,  crying, 
"  Lord,  Lord,  give  the  victory,  that  this  noble  peo 
ple  may  come  to  know  thee ! "  Then  the  sticks 
fall  to  earth,  and  behold !  six  of  them  lie  with  the 
signs  up,  and  only  one  with  the  signs  down.  This 
is  announced,  and  then  the  whole  assembly  cries 
out — "The  Christian's  God  has  won!"  and  the  Bill 
ing  shakes  Landolf  by  the  hand  and  says,  "  Now 
go  in  and  out  through  the  whole  land;  nobody 
will  hinder  you  from  preaching  the  name  of  your 
God.  But  do  not  pass  my  house  by;  come  back 
with  me;  I  will  become  a  Christian."  And  now  the 
assembly  broke  up;  everybody  went  home  to  his 
house,  Landolf  accompanying  the  Billing.  When 
they  were  again  passing  the  stone  of  sacrifice  at 
the  Deep  Moor,  Landolf  said — "Billing,  that  is  your 
altar-stone;  is  it  not?"  "It  belongs  to  me  and 
my  house."  "  There  my  first  church  shall  stand," 
said  Landolf  glad  and  strong  in  faith.  "May  I 
build  it?"  "Build  it  my  brother,"  answered  the 
Billing;  "and  when  it  is  ready  I  will  be  the  first 
to  be  baptized  in  it.  But  the  stone  of  sacrifice  we 
will  throw  into  the  moor,  that  the  remembrance  of 
it  may  be  lost." 


64  PINE   NEEDLES 

"'Now  did  Landolf  go  to  work  joyfully ;  by  day 
he  wrought,  and  at  night  he  preached,  and  taught 
in  the  Billing's  house,  and  in  all  the  country  round. 
No  longer  than  three  months  after,  the  little  wood 
en  church  was  done ;  the  first  in  this  whole  region ; 
and  the  same  day  that  Landolf  consecrated  it,  Harm 
the  Billing  with  five  sons  and  three  daughters,  and 
the  greater  part  of  the  friends  of  his  family  and 
of  his  farm  servants  received  holy  baptism,  the  wa 
ter  for  which  was  fetched  out  of  the  neighbouring 
Oerze.  Now,  of  course,  that  church  is  no  longer 
standing;  it  was  burnt  down  afterwards  by  the 
heathen  Wends,  and  in  its  place  the  large  stone 
church  in  Hermannsburg  was  built.  But  to  this 
day  the  field  where  that  first  church  stood  belongs 
to  the  Hermannsburg  parsonage,  and  is  still  called 
the  cold  church. 

"  'This  was  the  foundation  of  the  Christian  church 
in  our  valley  of  the  Oerze;  and  as  Landolf  had 
come  from  Minden,  the  whole  Oerze  valley  was 
attached  to  the  see  of  Minden,  while  the  rest  of 
the  Luneburg  country  came  to  belong  to  the  see 
of  Verden. 

"  'Now  the  faithful  Landolf  laboured  on  indefati- 
gably.  He  sent  one  of  his  new  converts  to  Minden 
and  Munster,  to  get  more  helpers  from  thence  for  his 
work.  Twelve  came,  who  were  put  under  Landolf; 
and  now  for  the  first  time  the  work  could  be  taken 
hold  of  vigorously.  Landolf  must  have  lived  and 
laboured  until  830  or  840,  and  so  blessed  was  his 
agency  that  the  whole  country  of  the  Horzsahzen 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  65 

was  converted  to  Christianity.  It  is  brought  for 
ward  as  a  proof  of  this,  that  at  the  great  May  diets 
held  at  the  stone-houses  the  following  laws  were 
unanimously  enacted;  no  more  horse's  flesh  to  be 
eaten;  no  more  human  sacrifices  to  be  brought; 
no  more  dead  to  be  burned ;  and  all  Woden's  oaks 
to  be  hewn  down.  And  in  truth  these  laws  do 
shew  the  dominance  of  Christianity,  for  precise 
ly  these  things  named  were  the  peculiar  marks 
of  heathenism.  Of  the  interior  condition  of  Chris 
tianity,  little  is  told ;  only  it  is  remarked  that  the 
entire  change  in  the  country  was  so  great  and 
manifest,  that  the  bishops  Willerich  of  Bremen, 
and  Helingud  of  Verden  sent  priests  to  convince 
themselves  with  their  own  eyes  whether  what  they 
had  heard  with  their  ears  was  true ;  and  these 
messengers  had  found  not  a  single  heathen  left 
in  the  whole  region.  As  a  good  general,  Landolf 
moreover  understood  how  everywhere  to  seize  the 
right  points  where  with  the  most  effect  heathen 
ism  might  be  grappled  with  and  overthrown.  He 
always  went  straight  to  the  heart  of  the  old  relig 
ion.  We  have  already  seen  how  his  first  church 
was  built  by  the  Billing's  sacrifice  stone.  West 
ward  from  Hermannsburg  is  what  is  called  the 
Winkelberg,  upon  which  was  the  burying-place  of 
the  heathen  priests,  for  the  most  part  cultivated 
land  now,  but  the  twice  seven  so-called  Huhnen 
graves  are  still  to  be  seen  there.  At  the  foot  of 
this  hill  he  established  what  was  called  the  Pfarr- 
wohrt,  where  the  spiritual  courts  should  be  holden ; 
5 


66  PINE   NEEDLES 

and  close  by  this  place  he  laid  the  foundation  stone 
of  the  Quanenburg,  a  house  surrounded  with  a 
moat,  in  which  the  young  girls  of  the  country 
might  be  taught  and  educated  (Quilne  or  Kwane 
meant  a  young  girl).  Both  places,  Pfarrvvohrt  and 
Quanenburg,  are  arable  fields  now,  still  belonging 
to  the  parsonage. 

"'An  hour  above  Hermannsburg  the  two  riv 
ers  Oerze  and  Wieze  flow  into  each  other.  At 
that  place,  in  an  oak  wood,  the  idol  Thor  was  wor 
shipped.  There  Landolf  was  equally  prompt  to 
build  a  chapel,  that  the  idol  worship  might  be  ban 
ished.  As  he  had  consecrated  the  church  in  Her 
mannsburg  to  Peter  and  Paul,  so  he  consecrated 
this  chapel  to  Lawrence.  Around  this  chapel  the 
village  Miiden  sprang  up,  so  called  because  the  two 
rivers  there  flow  into  one  another,  or  munden. 
Then  he  went  further  up  the  Oerze  and  erected 
a  cloister  and  a  chapel  at  a  place  which  was  sacred 
to  the  goddess  Freija.  At  that  time  a  cloister  was 
called  a  munster.  The  village  of  Munster  grew  up 
around  this  cloister.  In  the  same  way  he  went 
further  up  the  Wieze,  where  there  was  a  wood 
sacred  to  Hertha.  In  its  neighbourhood  he  built 
a  chapel  which  was  consecrated  to  Bartholomew. 
Around  this  chapel  Wiezendorf  arose.  About  an 
hour  and  a  half  distant  from  Hermannsburg,  there 
was  a  very  large,  magnificent  wood  of  oaks  and 
beeches;  such  a  forest  was  then  called  a  wohld. 
In  this  forest  the  heathen  priests,  the  so-called 
Druids,  were  specially  at  home;  there  too,  they 


ANDOLDYARNS.  67 

kept  the  white  horses  which  were  used  in  sooth 
saying.  The  wood  extended  for  hours  in  length 
and  breadth.  He  could  not  give  that  the  go-by; 
and  that  he  might  dash  right  into  the  midst  of 
it,  he  built  at  the  spot  where  it  was  narrowest  a 
chapel  on  the  one  side  to  Mary  in  valle,  and  on  the 
other  side  a  chapel  to  Mary  in  monte.  The  first 
means  Mary  in  the  valley,  the  second,  Mary  on  the 
hill.  The  villages  Wo  hide  and  Bergen  have  thence 
arisen.  So  he  grappled  with  heathenism  just  there 
where  its  strongest  points  were;  and  always,  by 
God's  grace,  got  the  victory;  for  the  Lord  indeed 
says:  "My  glory  will  I  not  give  to  another,  neither 
my  praise  to  graven  images."  And  as  once  the 
Philistine's  idol  Dagon  fell  speechless  upon  the 
ground  before  the  ark  of  the  covenant  of  God,  so 
in  our  Oerze  valley  everywhere  fell  the  altars  of 
the  idols  before  the  sign  of  the  Cross. 

"'Besides  all  this,  Landolf  and  his  companions 
were  skilled  husbandmen ;  who  themselves  shunned 
no  manual  labour  nor  painstaking,  and  who  knew 
right  well  how  to  eat  their  bread  in  the  sweat  of 
their  brow.  So  they  introduced  agriculture  univer 
sally,  of  which  our  forefathers  at  that  time  knew 
little  or  nothing ;  and  thus  they  were  not  only  the 
spiritual  but  also  the  material  benefactors  of  the 
whole  district.  How  much  a  single  man  can  do, 
who  is  wholly  given  to  the  Lord,  and  who  is  moved 
by  burning  love  to  the  Lord  and  to  his  fellows! 
God  give  all  preachers  and  teachers,  and  especially 
all  messengers  to  the  heathen,  such  a  mind,  such  a 


68  PINE   NEEDLES 

brave  heart,  such  a  single  eye,  such  will  to  work! 
that  some  good  may  be  done. 

"'About  the  next  hundred  years  I  have  found 
nothing  said  in  the  chronicle.  Probably  things 
went  on  in  such  a  quiet  way  that  there  was  noth 
ing  particular  to  say  concerning  them.  But  then 
comes  the  relation  of  a  noteworthy  occurrence.'" 

Meredith  shut  up  his  book. 
*  "  Well,  aren't  you  going  on  ?  "  said  Maggie. 

"Presently.  I  want  to  run  down  to  the  shore 
and  see  how  the  water  looks." 

"  Why  it  always  looks  just  the  same  way,"  said 
Esther. 

"  Does  it  ?  I  am  afraid  something  must  be  the 
matter  with  your  eyes." 

"  0,  of  course  sometimes  it  blows,  and  sometimes 
it  is  smooth;  but  what  is  that?  " 

"Just  according  to  your  eyes." 

"Aren't  all  eyes  alike?" 

"Not  exactly.     Some  see." 

"What  do  you  see  in  the  water?" 

"There  is  one  peculiarity  of  eyes,"  said  Mere 
dith.  "You  cannot  see  through  another  person's. 
Come,  Maggie,  let  us  stretch  ourselves  a  bit." 

Taking  hold  of  hands,  the  two  ran  and  scram 
bled  down  the  steep,  rocky  pitch  of  the  hill,  to  the 
edge  of  the  river.  The  wind  was  not  blowing  to 
day  ;  soft  and  still  the  water  lay,  with  a  mild  gleam 
under  the  October  sun,  sending  up  not  even  a  ripple 
to  the  shore.  There  was  a  warm,  spicy  smell  in  the 
woods;  there  was  a  golden  glow  here  and  there 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  60 

from  a  hickory;  the  hills  were  variegated  and  rich- 
hued  in  the  distance  and  near  by.  Meredith  sat 
down  on  a  stone  by  the  water  and  looked  out  on 
the  view.  But  he  was  graver  than  Maggie  liked. 

"Ditto,"  she  said  after  a  while,  "you  are  think 
ing  of  something." 

"Of  a  good  many  things,  Maggie.  How  good 
the  world  is !  and  men  are  not ! "  ^ 

"What  then,  Ditto?" 

"One  ought  to  do  something  to  make  them 
better." 

"What  can  you  do?" 

"  What  could  Landolf  the  Saxon ?  I  do  not  know, 
Maggie;  but  one  ought  to  be  as  ready  as  Landolf 
was,  to  do  any  thing.  And  I  think  I  am." 

"Then  God  will  shew  you  what  to  do,  Ditto." 

Meredith  bent  down  and  kissed  the  earnest  little 
face.  "You  are  the  only  friend  I  have  got,  Mag 
gie,  that  thinks  and  feels  as  I  do." 

"0  Ditto!     Uncle  Eden?" 

"Well,  I  suppose  Mr.  Murray  would  do  me  the 
honour  to  let  me  call  him  my  friend,"  said  Meredith. 

"  And  papa  ?  " 

"Mr.  Candlish  is  very  good  to  me;  but  you  see, 
I  do  not  know  him  so  well,  Maggie." 

"Well,  he  thinks  just  as  you  do.  And  papa  goes 
and  preaches  in  the  streets  when  he  is  in  New 
York;  in  those  dreadful  places  where  the  people 
live  that  never  go  to  church." 

"  That's  like  Landolf,"  said  Meredith.  "I  almost 
envy  men  like  that  old  monk." 


70  PINE   NEEDLES 

"Why?" 

"All  his  strength  laid  out  for  something  worth 
while — all  his  life.  And  think  how  much  he  did ! 
And  I  fret  to  be  doing  nothing,  and  yet  I  don't 
know  what  to  do." 

"You  can  ask  Uncle  Eden  when  he  comes." 

"  I  hope  he'll  come !  NOAV  don't  think  any  more 
0bout  it,  Maggie.  This  is  the  prettiest  place  I 
ever  saw  in  my  life.  I  want  to  get  out  on  that 
water." 

"Now?" 

"Not  now.     Some  time." 

"0  we'll  all  go,"  said  Maggie  joyfully.  "We 
might  go  in  the  boat  somewhere  and  take  our  book 
and  our  dinner,  and  have  a  grand  time,  Ditto ! " 

Meredith  laughed  and  said  it  was  all  "grand 
times";  and  then  he  got  up  and  strolled  along  by 
the  water,  picking  up  flat  stones  and  making  ducks 
and  drakes  on  the  smooth,  river  surface.  This  was 
a  new  pastime  to  Maggie,  and  so  pleasant  to  both 
that  they  forgot  the  book  and  the  girls  left  on  the 
height,  and  delighted  their  eye  with  the  dimpling 
water  and  ricochetting  stones  time  after  time,  and 
could  not  have  enough.  At  last  flat  stones  be 
gan  to  grow  scarce,  and  Maggie  and  Meredith  re 
mounted  to  the  rest  of  the  party. 

"Well!"  said  Flora,  "you've  come  in  good  time. 
We  are  going  home." 

"  Home ! "  echoed  Maggie. 

"To  be  sure.  Don't  you  think  we  want  dinner 
some  time?"  said  Esther;  "and  we  are  tired  sit- 


AND  OLD   YARNS.  71 

ting  here.     And  it  is  growing  late  besides.     Just 
look  where  the  sun  is." 

There  was  nothing  to  be  said  to  the  sun ;  and  the 
books  and  work  being  stowed  again  in  the  cart, 
Meredith  took  his  place  as  porter  and  the  little  com 
pany  returned  to  the  house. 


72  PINE   NEEDLES 


CHAPTEK  V. 

A  little  tired  and  not  a  little  hungry,  it  was  very 
good  now  to  have  a  change,  and  be  at  home.  The 
girls  went  to  dress  for  dinner;  while  Meredith, 
whose  toilet  was  sooner  made,  sat  on  the  terrace 
in  the  mellow  October  light  and  dreamed.  Din 
ner  went  off  merrily.  After  dinner,  when  it  began 
to  be  dark,  they  all  repaired  to  the  library.  A  lit 
tle  fire  was  kindled  here,  for  the  pleasure  of  it  rath 
er  than  from  the  need.  The  afghan  and  worsted 
embroidery  came  out  again  under  the  bright  lamp 
light  ;  but  Meredith  sat  idly  tending  the  fire. 

"Ditto,"  said  Maggie,  "can't  we  see  about  all 
those  Saxon  gods  now  ? — or  don't  you  want  to  ?  " 

"  Of  course  I  want  to  see  about  them,"  said  Mere 
dith,  springing  up  and  and  going  to  the  bookcases. 
"I  want  to  know  myself,  Maggie." 

"Were  they  different  from  the  Roman  and  Gre 
cian  gods  ?  "  Flora  asked. 

"It  is  safe  for  people  who  can  not  keep  their 
ears  open,  to  refrain  from  questions,"  Meredith  an 
swered. 

"  Why  I  heard  all  you  read,"  said  Flora,  pouting 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  73 

a  little;  "but  how  should  I  know  but  those  were 
the  same  as  the  Roman  gods,  only  under  different 
names  ?  " 

"  If  you  please  to  recollect,  you  will  remember 
that  the  two  nations  had  nothing  to  do  with  one 
another  except  at  the  spear's  point.  But  if  I  can 
find  what  I  want,  I  will  enlighten  you  and  myself 
too,"  said  Meredith,  rummaging  among  the  book 
shelves.  "  Here  it  is,  I  believe ! "  And  with  a  vol 
ume  in  his  hand  he  came  back  to  the  table  and 
the  lamp;  but  then  became  absorbed  in  study. 
Worsted  needles  flew  in  and  out.  Maggie  watched 
Meredith's  face  and  the  leaves  of  his  book  as  they 
were  turned  over. 

"  Well,  Ditto  ?  "  she  said  after  a  while. 

"What?" 

"Yes,  ivliat?"  said  Maggie  laughing.  "Have 
you  found  any  thing?" 

"  To  be  sure !  "  said  Meredith  straightening  him 
self  up.  "Yes,  Maggie,  it's  all  here — in  a  some 
what  brief  fashion." 

"  Well,  who  was  Woden  ?  " 

"Woden  was  the  principal  deity.  He  was  the 
god  of  the  moving  air,  and  of  the  light." 

"  Like  Apollo,"  said  Flora. 

"Yes — more  like  Zeus  or  Jupiter.  He  was  the 
all-father — the  universally  present  spirit;  above  all 
the  other  gods.  He  was  the  god  of  the  sky.  They 
represented  him  with  two  ravens  that  sat  on  his 
shoulders,  which  every  morning  brought  him  news 
of  whatever  was  going  on  in  Midgard" 


74  PINE   NEEDLES 

"  What's  Midgard?" 

"Our  lower  earth.  And  the  abode  of  the  gods 
was  called  Asgard." 

"We  did  not  read  any  thing  about  Midgard  and 
Asgard  to-day." 

"No,  but  I  thought  you  might  like  to  know. 
And  then  Walhalla  was  the  place  where  Odin  put 
half  of  the  brave  men  who  were  slain  in  battle." 

"What  became  of  the  other  half?"  said  Flora. 

"The  goddess  Freija  took  care  of  them.  What 
she  did  with  them,  this  book  does  not  say.  I  have 
read  before  of  the  'halls  of  Walhalla,'  I  am  glad 
to  know  what  it  means." 

"  Who  was  Freija  ?  " 

"Wait  a  bit;  I  have  not  got  through  with  Wo 
den,  or  Odin.  His  two  ravens  were  called  Hunin 
and  Munin — which  means,  Thought  and  Memory. 
That's  pretty !  Woden  is  painted  also  as  attended 
by  two  dogs.  He  was  the  chief  and  head  of  the 
gods ;  you  understand.  Now  Freija  was  one  of  his 
wives.  Naturally,  she  was  the  goddess  of  good 
weather  and  harvests — a  fair  kind  of  goddess  gen 
erally.  Also  the  dead  were  in  her  care ;  the  other 
half  of  the  heroes  slain  in  battle  came  into  her 
hands.  She  is  painted  riding  in  a  chariot  drawn 
by  two  cats." 

"  But,  Ditto,  if  Woden  was  the  sky  god,  I  don't 
see  why  those  old  Saxons  should  have  fancied  he 
would  like  such  cruel  sacrifices.  Sunlight  looks 
bright  and  cheerful." 

Meredith  mused. 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  75 

"Yes,"  he  said,  "it  does  look  bright  and  cheer 
ful — but,  it  hates  darkness." 

"What  then,  Ditto?" 

"Darkness  means  sin." 

"0  do  you  think  that!"  cried  Maggie.  "To  be 
sure,  I  know  darkness  means  sin.  But  do  you 
think  those  old  Saxons — " 

"  They  felt  the  difference  between  darkness  and 
light,  undoubtedly;  and  they  feared  the  sun-god." 

"  But  I  don't  see  how  they  could  think  he  was 
so  cruel,  though." 

"  I  suppose  that  is  all  quite  natural,"  said  Mere 
dith  musingly.  "How  afraid  we  should  be  of  God, 
if  we  did  not  know  Jesus  Christ !  " 

"Were  the  old  Hebrews  so  afraid  of  him  ?  "  Flora 
asked. 

"Terribly.  Don't  you  remember?  they  always 
thought  they  must  die,  when  the  Angel  of  Jehovah 
appeared  to  them  ?  And  how  should  people  who 
never  heard  of  Christ,  guess  that  God  is  so  good  as 
he  is  ?  They  feel  that  they  are  sinners ;  how  should 
they  know  that  he  will  forgive  ?  " 

"  But  to  think  to  please  him  by  such  awful  sac 
rifices  ! "  said  Flora. 

"  I  suppose  the  idea  was,  to  give  him  the  most 
precious  thing  there  was." 

"  I  shall  ask  Mr.  Murray,"  said  Flora.  "  It  is  all 
a  puzzle  to  me.  In  the  first  place,  I  do  not  be 
lieve  such  heathen  people  know  they  are  sinners." 

"Yes,  they  do.  Certainly  they  do!  all  the  world 
over;  and  this  is  one  of  the  ways  they  shew  it 


76  PINE   NEEDLES 

*  How  beautiful '  among  them  must  be  '  the  feet  of 
him  that  bringeth  good  tidings,  that  publisheth 
peace! — that  bringeth  good  tidings  of  good;  that 
publisheth  salvation  ! ' ' 

"What  a  pity  you  hadn't  lived  in  Landolf's 
time  !  "  said  Flora. 

"  There  are  enough  heathen  left,"  said  her  broth 
er;  "and  worse  than  those  old  Saxons.  Their's 
was  not  a  bad  specimen  of  heathen  mythology  by 
any  means.  And  yet,  think  of  believing  one's  self 
given  over  to  the  tender  mercies  of  Woden  and 
Thor!" 

"And  yet  by  your  account  people  were  better 
then  than  they  are  now !  " 

"  Some  people — and  some  people,"  answered  Mer 
edith.  "  I  must  ask  Mr.  Murray  about  that.  I  do 
not  understand  it." 

"We  shall  get  work  enough  ready  for  him  by 
the  time  he  comes.  Well,  go  on  with  your  Saxon 
mythology  and  be  done  with  it.  I  do  not  think  it 
is  very  interesting." 

"  Maggie  and  I  are  of  a  different  opinion.  But 
it  was  rather  Norse  mythology.  Sweden  and  Nor 
way  and  Denmark  were  all  of  one  race  and  one 
faith.  Norsemen  carried  it  to  Iceland;  and  it  is 
odd  enough  that  from  Iceland  we  get  our  best  ac 
counts  of  it." 

Maggie  had  mounted  up  with  her  knees  in  a 
chair  and  her  elbows  on  the  table,  leaning  over 
towards  Meredith ;  and  now  begged  he  would  tell 
about  Thor. 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  77 

"Thor  was  the  thunderer." 

"What  do  you  mean?" 

"The  god  of  thunder  and  lightning.  He  was 
the  son  of  Odin,  or  Woden.  He  is  represented 
driving  in  a  car  drawn  by  two  goats  and  with  a 
great  hammer  in  his  hand.  This  hammer  was 
forged  by  the  dwarfs,  Kobolds,  I  suppose,  who 
dwelt  in  the  centre  of  the  earth." 

"What  did  he  want  a  hammer  for?" 

"To  strike  withal.  And  when  Thor's  hammer 
came  down,  that  made  the  thunder,  don't  you  see? 
and  his  stroke  was  the  thunderbolt." 

"I  should  think  they  would  have  been  fright 
ened  to  death  in  a  thunder-storm." 

"Not  an  expression  those  old  Saxons  knew  any 
thing  about." 

"  Well — I  should  think  they  would  have  feared 
Thor." 

"There  is  no  doubt  but  they  did.  Those  poor 
captives  at  the  stone-houses  were  slaughtered  in 
honour  of  Woden  and  Thor,  don't  you  remember? 
But  he  was  also  the  god  of  fire,  and  the  god  of  the 
domestic  hearth.  Listen  to  this:  'Among  the  pa 
gan  Norsemen,  Thor's  hammer  was  held  in  as  much 
reverence  as  Christ's  cross  among  Christians.  It 
was  carved  on  their  gravestones ;  and  wrought  of 
wood  or  iron,  it  was  suspended  in  their  temples.'" 

"  Thor's  hammer !  "  repeated  Maggie.  "  Poor 
people ! " 

"Nobody  worships  Thor  now,"  observed  Esther 
scornfully. 


78  PINE   NEEDLES 

"  We  call  one  of  our  days  after  him  yet,"  said 
Meredith.  "  There  is  a  relic  of  the  old  Thor  wor 
ship.  Indeed  all  our  days  are  heathenish  in  name." 

"All?"  said  Flora  looking  up.  "What  is  Mon 
day?"  • 

"  Just  the  Moon's  day,  don't  you  see  ?  Sunday 
is  the  Sun's  day.  Woden's  day  and  Thor's  day  you 
know.  Then  Friday  is  of  course  Freija's  day — or 
Freyr's  day — I  don't  know  which.  Freyr  was  the 
god  of  weather  and  fruits — another  impersonation 
of  Odin.  He  rode  through  the  air  on  a  wild  boar, 
faster  than  any  horse  could  catch  him.  An  odd 
steed !  And  Tuesday  is  Tyr's  day,  or  Zin's  day — 
it  comes  to  much  the  same  thing.  He  was  espe 
cially  the  '  god  of  war  and  of  athletic  sports.' " 

"Then  there  is  Saturday  left,"  said  Maggie. 
"What  is  Saturday?" 

"I  think  it  must  have  been  Saturn's  day — and 
so  not  Saxon,  Maggie,  but  Roman.  The  names  of 
our  months  are  all  Roman,  you  know  ?  " 

"Are  they?" 

"Yes,  but  wait.  Here  is  something  curious, 
The  Saxon  devil  was  called  Loki.  Now  Lold 
had  three  children.  Listen  to  this.  4  One  was  the 
huge  wolf  Fenris,  who  at  the  last  day  shall  hurry 
gaping  to  the  scene  of  battle,  with  his  lower  jaw 
scraping  the  earth  and  his  nose  scraping  the  sky.'" 

"What  is  curious  in  that?"  asked  Flora.  "It 
is  just  like  a  children's  fairy  tale." 

"But  these  are  not  children's  fairy  tales;  and 
they  mean  something.  How  did  these  old  Norse- 


AND    OLD    YARNS.  79 

men  know  there  would  be  a  scene  of  battle  at  the 
last  day,  and  great  destruction  ?  " 

"  How  do  you  know  it  ?  " 

"The  Bible." 

"Does  the  Bible  say  so,  Ditto?"  said  Maggie. 
"  Where  does  it  say  so  ?  " 

"  Many  places." 

"Tell  us  one,  Ditto." 

Meredith  rose  up  and  fetched  a  Bible  and  pushed 
his  book  of  Norse  mythology  on  one  side.  Then  he 
opened  at  the  nineteenth  chapter  of  the  Revelation. 

"  '  And  I  saw  heaven  opened,  and  behold  a  white 
horse ;  and  he  that  sat  upon  him  was  called  Faith 
ful  and  True,  and  in  righteousness  he  doth  judge 
and  make  war.  His  eyes  were  as  a  flame  of  fire, 
and  on  his  head  were  many  crowns ;  and  he  had  a 
name  written,  that  no  man  knew,  but  he  himself. 
And  he  was  clothed  with  a  vesture  dipped  in  blood : 
and  his  name  is  called,  The  Word  of  God.  And 
the  armies  which  were  in  heaven  followed  him  upon 
white  horses,  clothed  in  fine  linen,  white  and  clean. 
And  out  of  his  mouth  goeth  a  sharp  sword,  that 
with  it  he  should  smite  the  nations ;  and  he  shall 
rule  them  with  a  rod  of  iron :  and  he  treadeth  the 
wine  press  of  the  fierceness  and  wrath  of  Almighty 
God.  And  he  hath  on  his  vesture  and  on  his  thigh 
a  name  written,  KING  OF  KINGS,  AND  LORD 
OF  LORDS. 

"  'And  I  saw  an  angel  standing  in  the  sun;  and 
he  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  saying  to  all  the  fowls 
that  fly  in  the  midst  of  heaven,  Come  and  gather 


80  PINE   NEEDLES 

yourselves  together  unto  the  supper  of  the  great 
God;  that  ye  may  eat  the  flesh  of  kings,  and  the 
flesh  of  captains,  and  the  flesh  of  mighty  men,  and 
the  flesh  of  horses,  and  of  them  that  sit  on  them, 
and  the  flesh  of  all  men,  both  free  and  bond,  both 
small  and  great. 

"  'And  I  saw  the  beast,  and  the  kings  of  the 
earth,  and  their  armies,  gathered  together  to  make 
war  against  him  that  sat  on  the  horse,  and  against 
his  army.  And  the  beast  was  taken,  and  with 
him  the  false  prophet  that  wrought  miracles  before 
him,  with  which  he  deceived  them  that  had  re 
ceived  the  mark  of  the  beast,  and  them  that  wor 
shipped  his  image.  These  both  were  cast  alive 
into  a  lake  of  fire  burning  with  brimstone.  And 
the  remnant  were  slain  with  the  sword  of  hjm  that 
sat  upon  the  horse,  which  sword  proceeded  out  of 
his  mouth:. and  all  the  fowls  were  tilled  with  their 
flesh.'" 

"  I  do  not  understand  all  that,  the  least  bit,"  said 
Flora. 

"You  understand  there  will  be  a  war,  and  a 
battle?" 

"  But  that's  a  figure." 

"  No,  it's  a  fact.     How  should  it  be  a  figure  ?  " 

"  What  do  you  understand  by  a  '  sword  proceed 
ing  out  of  his  mouth  ? ' " 

"  That  is  in  the  description  of  Christ  in  the  first 
chapter:  'And  he  had  in  his  right  hand  seven 
stars;  and  out  of  his  mouth  went  a  sharp  two- 
edged  sword.'" 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  81 

"  Well,  isn't  that  a  figure  ?    What  does  it  mean  ?  " 

"  Listen  to  the  description  of  Christ  that  Isaiah 
gives:  'With  righteousness  shall  he  judge  the  poor, 
and  reprove  with  equity  for  the  meek  of  the  earth ; 
and  he  shall  smite  the  earth  with  the  rod  of  his 
mouth,  and  with  the  breath  of  his  lips  shall  he  slay 
the  wicked.' " 

"Well?" 

"And  in  Thessalonians ;  'Then  shall  that  Wicked 
be  revealed,  whom  the  Lord  shall  consume  with 
the  spirit  of  his  mouth,  and  shall  destroy  with  the 
brightness  of  his  coming.'  And  in  Ephesians:  'the 
sword  of  the  Spirit,  which  is  the  word  of  God.' " 

"Well,"  said  Flora,  "that  is  not  a  real  sword, 
with  a  handle,  and  an  edge." 

"  The  Bible  says  it  has  two  edges." 

"  Nonsense !  you  know  what  I  mean." 

"  I  know.  Certainly  Flora,  the  weapons  of  that 
battle  may  not  be  weapons  of  flesh  and  blood,  or 
for  flesh  and  blood ;  but  the  battle,  is  real,  don't  you 
see?  and  the  awful  overthrow  and  destruction; 
and  what  I  am  wondering  about  is,  how  those  old 
Saxons  knew  there  would  be  such  a  battle  at  the 
end  ?  and  how  they  knew  that  the  mischief  would 
in  some  sense  come  from  the  devil." 

"Did  they  know  it?" 

"  The  wolf  Fenris  was  one  of  the  devil's  children, 
as  they  made  it  out.  And  another  was  the  serpent 
which  Odin  cast  into  the  sea,  where  it  grew  and 
grew  till  it  had  wound  up  the  whole  earth  in  its 
folds.  That  is  very  curious !  " 
6 


82  PINE   NEEDLES 

"What,  Ditto?" 

"  How  did  they  know  that  ?  " 

"Know  what?" 

"Why,  don't  you  see?  The  serpent  is  one  of 
the  Bible  words  for  the  devil;  here  it  is  a  child 
of  the  devil;  who  coming  to  the  earth  has  envel 
oped  the  whole  world  in  his  toils.  The  Bible 
says,  I  know,  somewhere,  that  those  who  are  not 
saved  by  Christ  are  4m  the  Wicked  one.'  How 
did  they  know  so  much,  and  so  little,  those  old 
people  ?  " 

"Where  did  you  find  all  those  Bible  verses  just 
now  about  the  sword,  Ditto  ?  " 

"Keferences  here,  Maggie." 

"Well,  go  on,  Ditto.  There  were  three  children 
of  the  devil." 

"  The  third  was  the  goddess  Hel  or  Hela.  She 
was  the  goddess  of  the  lower  world;  and  was  half 
black  and  half  blue.  I  wonder!  that  must  be 
where  our  word  'hell'  comes  from.  What  dread 
ful  old  times !  And  times  now  are  just  as  bad,  for 
a  great  part  of  the  world.  The  goddess  Hel  was 
very  like  the  horrible  Hindoo  goddess  Kali,  they 
say  here." 

"  I  don't  believe  those  times  were  so  much  worse 
than  these  times,"  said  Flora. 

"  You  think  human  sacrifices  are  a  pleasant  re 
ligious  feature  ?  " 

"  Not  to  the  victims ;  but  I  suppose  the  rest  were 
all  accustomed  to  it,  and  didn't  feel  so  shocked  as 
you  do." 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  83 

"Landolf  seems  to  have  been  a  good  deal 
shocked." 

"Are  you  going  to  read  us  any  thing  more, 
Ditto,  about  those  queer  old  gods?" 

"There  isn't  much  more  that  I  need  read,  Maggie. 
I  have  told  you  about  the  principal  deities.  They 
believed  in  quantities  of  lesser  ones — really,  personi 
fications  of  the  good  and  evil  powers  of  nature.  The 
elves  and  their  king,  and  the  dwarfs  living  inside 
the  hills.  The  dwarfs  owned  the  treasures  of  the 
mines,  and  worked  in  metals  and  precious  stones." 

"I  should  like  to  believe  in  elves  and  fairies," 
said  Flora. 

"Why?" 

"0  it's  pretty  and  poetical.  Fairy  rings  and  all 
that." 

"Would  you  like  to  think  there  were  hidden 
powers  in  every  piece  of  water,  and  rock,  and  hill, 
which  might  feel  kindly  disposed  towards  you  and 
might  not  ?  which  might  suddenly  play  you  an  ill 
trick  and  make  you  most  mischievous  trouble,  for 
nothing  but  mischief?  " 

"  Did  people  believe  so,  Ditto  ?  " 

"Certainly.  A  great  many  people,  in  various 
parts  of  the  world." 

"I  would  rather  believe  that  God  has  it  all  in 
his  hand,"  said  Maggie  contentedly. 

"  So  would  I,  Maggie.  And  that  Jesus  has  the 
keys  of  hell  and  of  death." 

"  I  wonder  when  Fenton  will  be  here,"  remarked 
Esther. 


84  PINE   NEEDLES 

"  I  hope — he  won't  come — till — Uncle  Eden  gets 
here,"  said  Maggie  very  deliberately. 

"  Why  not  ?  "  said  Esther  sharply. 

"  He  is  uneasy,"  said  Maggie  with  a  correspond 
ing  shrug  of  her  shoulders;  "I  never  know  what 
Fenton  will  take  it  into  his  head  to  do." 

"  That  is  a  nice  way  to  speak  of  your  brother." 

Maggie  considered  that.  "  I  can't  find'any  nicer," 
she  said  at  length. 

"Then  I  wouldn't  speak  at  all." 

"  Never  mind,"  said  Flora.  "  One's  brothers  are 
always  a  mixture  of  comfort  and  plague.  And 
that  is  true  of  the  best  of  them,  Esther ;  you  never 
know  what  they  will  take  into  their  heads  to  do." 

"  0,  Flora ! — "  Maggie  began,  and  stopped. 

"  You  think  there  is  a  difference  between  brothers 
and  brothers,"  said  Flora  laughing.  "Well,  my 
experience  is  what  I  tell  you." 

"Ditto,"  said  Maggie  suddenly,  "are  there  any 
such  stones  as  those  queer  stone-houses  in  this 
country  ?  " 

"  Not  that  ever  I  heard  of,  Maggie.  But  in  the 
old  world,  as  it  is  called,  there  are  a  great  many, 
scattered  over  a  great  many  countries.  Not  all 
just  like  the  stone-houses.  Some  are  just  single 
stones  set  up  on  end.  Some  are  two  laid  together, 
one  resting  on  the  other  slantwise ;  the  stone-houses 
in  Luneburg  seem  to  have  been  made  of  nine  stones, 
one  lying  on  eight." 

"Did  people  offer  human  sacrifices  on  all  of 
them?" 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  85 

"  I  fancy  not.  But  I  believe  it  is  tolerably  un 
certain.  Did  you  never  see  a  picture  of  Stone- 
henge  ? " 

Maggie  knew  nothing  about  Stonehenge.  Mere 
dith  went  to  the  bookcases  again  and  got  another 
volume.  This  contained  many  illustrations  of  old 
stone  monuments  of  various  kinds,  and  he  and 
Maggie  were  soon  absorbed  in  studying  them. 

"  There ! "  cried  Maggie,  as  he  opened  at  one  of 
the  earliest  illustrations,  "there,  Ditto!  that  is  very 
like — very  like — what  you  read  of  the  stone-houses. 
Isn't  it?" 

"  Fearfully  like,"  said  Meredith.  "  This  is  in  Ire 
land.  I  dare  say  some  of  those  old  Druids  sacri 
ficed  men  on  it." 

"  How  could  they  set  it  up  so  ?  Look,  Ditto — 
the  top  stone  rests  just  on  one  point  at  the  lowest 
end.  I  should  think  it  would  topple  down." 

"It  has  stood  hundreds  of  years,  Maggie,  and  will 
stand  for  all  time — unless  an  earthquake  shakes  it 
down.  This  Dolmen  is  made  of  four  stones." 

"What  is  a  dolmen?" 

"This  is  one.  It  says  here  in  a  note,  that  the 
name  comes  'from  the  Celtic  word  Daul,  a  table, 
and  Chen  or  Chaen,  a  stone.'  A  stone  table.  And 
it  says  here  that  there  are  probably  a  hundred  of 
such  dolmens  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland.  How 
ever  did  the  builders  get  that  enormous  block 
poised  on  the  tips  of  the  other  three  ? " 

Slowly  and  absorbedly  the  two  went  on  explor 
ing  the  pages  of  the  book ;  stopping  to  read,  stop- 


86  PINE   NEEDLES 

ping  to  talk  and  discuss  the  questions  of  tumuli 
and  stone  circles,  dolmens  and  menhirs.  The  opin 
ion  of  the  author,  that  the  great  circles  commem 
orated  great  battles,  and  were  raised  in  honour  of 
the  dead  buried  within  them ;  and  that  many  dol 
mens  had  a  sepulchral  character;  was  somewhat 
confusing  to  the  Druidical  and  tragical  impressions 
left  from  the  Saxon  chronicle;  which,  however,  at 
last  got  an  undeniable  support.  In  the  stones  of 
Stennis,  over  which  Maggie  and  Meredith  pon 
dered  with  intense  interest,  one  of  the  enormous 
up-standing  masses  has  a  hole  through  it.  And 
this  stone,  there  is  no  doubt,  was  dedicated  to  Wo 
den.  And  so  long  had  the  superstition  of  Woden's 
worship  clung  to  it,  that  until  very  lately  an  oath 
sworn  by  persons  joining  their  hands  through  this 
hole,  was  reckoned  especially  sacred ;  even  the 
courts  of  law  so  recognizing  it.  After  that,  Wo 
den  seemed  to  Maggie  to  have  strong  claim  to  all 
the  upright  stones  and  altar-looking  dolmens  that 
are  found  where  the  worship  of  Woden  has  once 
prevailed.  Leaving  Stennis  they  went  on  to  Kunic 
crosses,  German  dolmens,  and  French  dolmens,  and 
on  and  on,  from  country  to  country.  When  at  last 
they  lifted  up  their  heads  and  looked  around  them, 
they  were  alone.  The  girls  had  gone  off  to  bed; 
the  worsted  work  lay,  left  on  the  table;  the  fire 
was  out,  the  minute-hand  pointed  to  ten  o'clock. 
Meredith  and  Maggie  glanced  at  each  other  and 
smiled. 

"We  have  forgotten  ourselves,"  said  he. 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  87 

"You  see,  Ditto,"  said  Maggie,  "we've  been  trav 
elling.  0  I  wish  I  could  see  the  Stones  of  Stennis, 
don't  you?  and  the  Stone  of  Woden !  " 

"  Well,  now  you  had  better  travel  to  bed,  little 
one,  and  forget  it  all.  Don't  see  it  in  your  dreams." 


88  PINE  NEEDLES 


CHAPTER   VI. 

One  expects  steady  weather  in  October;  so  it 
was  really  not  extraordinary  that  the  next  morn 
ing  should  break  fair  and  quiet,  with  a  sunny  haze 
lying  over  the  river.  Nevertheless  Maggie  rejoiced. 

"What  a  pleasant  day  we  had  yesterday!"  she 
exclaimed,  as  the  party  sat  at  breakfast. 

"Are  not  all  your  days  pleasant?"  said  Meredith. 

"Yes,  but  yesterday  was  uncommon.  0  Ditto, 
we  didn't  look  at  the  map  last  night ! " 

"We  were  looking  at  stones." 

"  Yes,  but  we  must  look  at  the  map  after  break 
fast.  I  want  to  find  all  those  places." 

"  Take  time,"  said  Meredith,  "and  eat  your  break 
fast.  Liineburg  heath  will  not  run  away." 

But  after  breakfast  indeed  the  great  atlas  was 
fetched  out  to  the  sunny  terrace  in  front  of  the 
house  and  laid  on  a  settee,  and  Maggie  and  Mere 
dith  sat  down  before  the  map  of  Germany  with 
business  faces. 

"  Now  here  is  the  Elbe,"  said  Maggie,  "  it  is  big 
enough  to  be  seen ;  here  is  the  mouth  of  it,  just  in 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  89 

a  corner  under  Denmark,  where  those  ships  went 
from." 

"What  ships?" 

"Why,  the  ships  in  which  the  Saxons  went  over 
to  England — the  Saxons  that  conquered  England, 
Meredith." 

"You  do  remember,"  said  Meredith  smiling.  "It 
is  worth  while,  reading  to  you." 

"  They  sailed  from  the  mouths  of  the  Elbe  and 
the  Weser — and  here  is  the  Weser.  The  mouths 
are  pretty  near  together.  Now  between  the  Elbe 
and  the  Weser  were — which  Saxons,  Ditto  ?  " 

"Towards  the  Elbe  and  beyond  it,  were  the  East- 
phalians ;  those  our  story  belongs  to ;  among  whom 
Landolf  went." 

"Well  here  is  the  Aller,  Ditto!  they  lived  there, 
you  know;  that  is  pretty  far  west.  And  here  is 
Hermannsburg !  0  I  am  glad  we  have  found  that. 
And  here  is  Liineburg — all  over  here,  I  suppose. 
I  suppose  we  couldn't  find  the  stone-houses,  Ditto  V  " 

"I  suppose  not.  But  here  is  Verden  on  the  Al 
ler,  Maggie,  where  Charlemagne  had  those  4,500 
Saxons  hewed  to  pieces.  And  here  are  Osnabruck 
and  Detmold,  where  the  Saxons  beat  him  again 
and  took  the  4,000  captives  that  they  slew  at  the 
stone-houses." 

"  Horrid  Charlemagne ! "  said  Maggie. 

"  It  was  all  horrid,  what  concerned  the  fighting. 
But  here  is  Minden,  Maggie,  from  which  good  Lan 
dolf  set  out  in  his  little  boat  and  dropped  down  the 
Weser  to  go  to  the  East  Saxons." 


90  PINE   NEEDLES 

"  And  then  when  he  got  to  the  Aller  he  went  up 
that;  then  he  had  to  row  hard,  I  guess." 

"1  guess  he  did  a  good  deal  of  hard  rowing,  first 
and  last,  Maggie." 

"Then  to  get  to  the  stone-houses  he  went  further 
up  the  Aller  and  turned  into  the  Oerze.  Here  is 
the  Oerze !  Then  the  stone-houses  must  be  some 
where  hereabouts,  Ditto ;  for  they  are  not  very  far 
from  Hermannsburg." 

"There  is  the  little  river  Wieze,  Maggie;  and 
here,  where  it  flows  into  the  Oerze,  was  that  oak 
wood,  sacred  to  Thor,  where  the  village  of  Miiden 
now  is.  And  here  is  the  village  of  Munster  where 
Freija  was  honoured.  All  over  the  land  then 
it  was  wild  country,  woods  and  morasses.  And 
now — think  what  Germany  is !  " 

"  What  is  it,  Ditto  ?  " 

"  It  is  the  land  of  Thought,  and  Art,  and  Learn 
ing,  and  Criticism." 

"  Look  here ! "  broke  in  a  lively  voice  behind 
them.  "  Do  you  know  the  sun  is  getting  up  in  the 
sky  ?  and  we  have  settled  nothing.  And  here  are 
two  heads  over  a  map !  " 

"  It  would  not  hurt  a  third  head,"  said  Meredith. 
"And  Maggie  and  I  have  settled  a  good  deal, 
thank  you." 

"But  where  are  we  going  to-day  ?  " 

"Yes,"  added  Esther  behind,  "where  are  we 
going?  I  think  it  is  time  to  be  getting  ready, 
because  it  takes  us  a  good  while." 

"  Esther,"  said  Maggie,  "  Fairbairn  and  the  men 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  91 

are  going  over  to  the  pine  terrace  to  cut  down  some 
trees  papa  wants  cut;  let  us  go  there  and  have  a 
big  bonfire,  and  then  Ditto  will  have  plenty  of 
coals  for  his  friar's  omelet." 

"  Betsey  is  making  us  a  chicken  pie." 
"  Well,  the  omelet  will  do  no  harm  besides." 
"  No.     It  is  a  good  way  over  to  the  pine  terrace." 
"  I  don't  care  how  far  it  is.     So  much  the  better. 
It  is  nice  walking.     Do  you  care,  Flora  ?  " 

"  She  don't  care,"  said  Meredith.  "  Come,  let  us 
load  up.  If  we  have  a  journey  before  us,  best  be 
about  it." 

"  And  then,  Esther,"  Maggie  went  on,  "  we  can 
go  to  the  Lookout  rock  to  read." 
"  It  will  be  sunny  there." 

"  Well,  it's  all  nice  on  the  pine  terrace,  and  we 
can  find  plenty  of  shade.  Now  then,  Ditto — if 
you'll  bring  up  the  wagon." 

The  business  of  loading  up  began.  There  were 
always  some  varieties  eveiy  time.  To-day  a  basket 
of  sweet  potatoes  formed  one  item,  going  to  be 
roasted  in  the  great  fire-heap  which  would  be  left 
from  the  bonfire.  A  great  chicken  pie,  fresh  and 
hot,  was  carefully  wrapped  up  and  put  in.  Mere 
dith  provided  a  hatchet,  to  trim  branches  with. 
Worsted  work  and  afghan  of  course ;  but  the  only 
book  was  in  Meredith's  pocket  The  cart  was  quite 
loaded  when  all  was  done;  for  you  know,  cups  and 
saucers  and  plates  weigh  heavy,  if  you  put  enough 
of  them  together,  and  the  chicken  pie  in  the  dish 
was  a  matter  of  a  good  many  pounds,  and  potatoes 


92  PINE   NEEDLES 

are  heavy  too.  Somebody  had  to  carry  the  bottle 
of  cream,  and  Fairbairn  went  laden  with  a  pail  of 
water. 

The  day  was  just  another  like  the  day  before, 
but  the  direction  of  the  walk  was  different.  The 
;party  turned  to  the  left  instead  of  to  the  right,  and 
leaving  the  flower-beds  and  shrubbery,  entered  a 
pretty  winding  road  which  curled  about  through  a 
grove  of  red  cedars.  The  air  was  spicy,  dry  and 
warm.  A  soft,  rather  thick  haze  filled  the  air, 
turning  the  whole  world  into  a  sort  of  fairy-land. 
The  hills  looked  misty,  the  river  still  and  dreamy; 
outlines  were  softened,  colours  were  grown  tender. 
The  happy  little  party,  it  is  true,  gave  not  much 
heed  to  this  bewitchment  of  nature,  with  the  one 
exception  of  Meredith ;  Flora  and  Esther  were  in  a 
contented  state  of  practical  well-being  which  had 
no  sentiment  in  it;  Maggie  and  her  dog  were  a 
pair,  for  jocund  spirits  and  thoughtless  delight- 
taking.  They  both  went  bounding  about,  very 
much  taken  up  with  each  other;  while  Meredith 
pulled  the  cart  steadily  on  and  feasted  mentally  on 
every  step  of  the  way.  The  road  brought  them 
soon  to  the  neighbourhood  of  the  river  again,  and 
ran  along  a  grassy  bank  which  sloped  gently  down 
to  the  edge  of  the  water.  The  green  sward  was 
dotted  with  columnar  red  cedars,  growing  to  a 
height  of  thirty  feet,  with  a  diameter  of  two  or 
two  and  a  half  all  the  way,  straight  as  a  pillar. 
On  the  other  hand  a  low,  rocky  height  grown  with 
oaks  and  hemlocks  overhung  the  valley,  and  the 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  93 

rocky  ridge  seemed  to  sweep  round  to  the  front  of 
them  in  a  wide  amphitheatre,  giving  a  sky  line 
of  variegated  colour,  soft  and  glowing  under  the 
haze.  Travelling  on,  they  got  next  into  a  wood 
and  lost  the  river.  Here  all  was  wild;  the  ground 
strewn  with  rock  and  encumbered  with  low  growth 
of  huckleberry  bushes,  brambles,  and  ferns.  The 
road  however  was  good,  and  Meredith  drew  the  cart 
without  any  difficulty.  After  a  time  the  ground  be 
gan  to  rise,  for  in  fact  they  were  approaching  the 
further  end  of  the  rocky  ridge  before  mentioned, 
where  it  swept  round  to  the  river.  Midway  of  the 
height  the  hill  shelved  into  a  wide  plateau  or  ter 
race;  at  the  back  of  it  the  sharp,  rocky  hill-side, 
in  front  of  it  a  green  slope  leading  down  to  the 
river.  The  ground  on  the  plateau  was  gravelly 
and  poor;  it  gave  foothold  to  little  beside  white 
and  yellow  pines,  which  in  places  stood  thick,  in 
other  places  parted  and  opened  for  spaces  of  mossy 
turf,  where  the  too  shallow  soil  would  not  nour 
ish  them.  Here  there  was  a  wild  wilderness  of 
natural  beauty.  Now  and  then  a  lovely  low-grow 
ing  white  pine  spreading  abroad  its  bluish-green 
branches;  in  other  parts  scraggy,  tall-shooting  spe 
cimens  of  the  yellow  variety ;  at  the  hill  foot  and 
on  the  rocky  hill-side  golden  hickories  and  brown 
oaks  and  flaunting  maples.  The  turf  was  dry  and 
warm,  being  in  fact  half  moss;  the  openings  and 
glades  allured  the  party  from  one  sweet  resting 
spot  into  another. 

"  We  may  as  well  stop  here,"  said  Flora  at  last. 


94  PINE  NEEDLES 

"  We  might  go  round  and  round  all  day,  it  is  all 
so  pretty.  We  must  stop  somewhere,  if  we  are  to 
have  any  reading." 

"  Let  us  go  over  yonder  to  the  edge  of  the  bank," 
said  Meredith,  "  where  we  can  have  a  view  of  the 
river." 

At  the  edge  of  the  bank  the  cedars  began  to  oc 
cupy  the  ground  and  indeed  hindered  the  view; 
but  a  few  strokes  of  Fairbairn's  axe  set  that  right ; 
and  the  party  sat  down  in  the  shade  of  some  taller 
trees  with  a  lookout  over  the  pretty  conical  cedars 
(not  columnar  here)  down  to  the  water,  and  across 
to  the  green  and  gold  promontory  which  on  the 
other  side  of  the  river  closed  the  view.  The  girls 
got  out  their  work.  Maggie  sat  down  panting  after 
a  race  with  Kob  Koy.  Meredith  lounged  upon  the 
mossy  bank  and  looked  lazy.  Presently  the  strokes 
of  a  couple  of  axes  began  to  break  the  silence.  One, 
two;  one,  two;  one,  two — 

"  It  only  wanted  that !  "  he  exclaimed. 

"What!  "said  Esther. 

"That  chopping.  That  ring  of  the  axes.  It 
completes  the  charm.  This  is  elysium !  " 

"  We  have  got  to  make  our  bonfire  !  "  said  Mag 
gie  starting. 

"Wait, — not  yet;  they  have  not  cut  down  a  sin 
gle  tree  yet. — Hark  !  there  it  goes,  crashing  down. 
They  have  got  to  trim  it  yet,  Maggie,  before  there 
will  be  anything  to  burn." 

"And  they  must  cut  and  trim  a  good  many 
trees,  before  there  will  be  enough  to  begin,"  said 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  95 

Esther.  "  It  is  more  fun  to  have  plenty  to  pile  on 
at  once." 

"  Then  we  shall  wait  a  good  while  for  our  din 
ner,"  said  Maggie. 

"  Are  you  hungry  ?     It  is  only  half  past  eleven." 

"No,  I  am  not  hungry  yet;  but  a  bonfire  takes  a 
good  while,  you  know,  and  I  want  to  get  to  the 
reading." 

"  Come !  we  might  read  an  hour,"  said  Meredith 
rousing  himself  up. 

"No,  Ditto,  that  would  bring  it  to  half  past 
twelve,  and  that  would  never  do." 

"Well  then  I  will  go  trim,  and  we'll  have  the 
bonfire  going  in  a  few  minutes.  Where  will  you 
have  it?" 

Maggie  sought  out  a  good  spot,  while  Meredith 
took  his  hatchet  and  went  to  work,  clearing  the 
lopped  branches  of  their  smaller  leafy  twigs  which 
were  for  the  fire,  and  cutting  in  two  the  branches 
which  were  not  worth  trimming.  There  was  a 
nice  piece  of  work  then,  to  drag  them  to  the  bon 
fire  place ;  for  it  was  needful  to  choose  an  open,  free 
space  for  making  the  fire,  where  the  flames  would 
not  mount  or  be  blown  into  the  tops  of  trees  that 
were  to  be  left  standing,  and  so  scorch  and  injure 
them.  No  such  open  space  was  at  command  in 
the  close  neighbourhood  of  the  cutting;  so  the 
stuff  for  the  fire  had  to  be  transported  some  dis 
tance.  Maggie  and  Meredith  worked  away  at  it, 
and  Maggie  called  Esther  and  Meredith  summoned 
Flora  to  help ;  and  soon  they  were  all  heartily  en- 


96  PINE   NEEDLES 

gaged  and  running  to  and  fro  with  armfuls,  or 
dragging  behind  them  on  the  ground  the  heavy 
umbrageous  branches  they  might  not  cany.  Pres 
ently  Meredith  stopped  and  collected  a  little  bunch 
of  dry  sticks  and  leaves  which  he  heaped  together; 
tucked  paper  under,  and  laid  crisp  hemlock  and 
cedar  cuttings  on  top.  Then  a  match  was  kindled 
and  fire  applied.  They  all  watched  to  see  it;  light 
ing,  crackling,  smoking, — then  the  slender  upshoot 
of  flame — and  Meredith  began  to  pile  on  pine 
branches  thick  and  fast.  At  first  rose  a  thick  col 
umn  of  smoke,  for  the  fuel  was  fat  and  resinous 
and  the  fire  had  not  got  under  way.  Kedoubling, 
soft,  black  and  brown  reeking  curls,  through  which 
the  sun  shot  his  beams  here  and  there  lighting 
them  up  to  golden  amber.  "  What  tints  and  what 
forms ! "  Meredith  exclaimed.  And  then  another 
light  and  another  colour  began  to  come  into  the 
others;  tiny  up-darting  shoots  of 'fire,  another  illu 
mination  rivalling  and  contrasting  with  the  sun 
light  which  struck  the  column  higher  up.  Mere 
dith  stood  still  to  watch  it,  while  even  Flora  and 
Esther  were  dragging  more  branches  of  yellow 
pine  to  the  fire  and  throwing  them  on  emulously, 
till  the  pile  grew  and  grew,  and  Maggie  was  work 
ing  her  cheeks  into  a  purple  state  with  her  exer 
tions.  Half  a  dozen  thick  pine  branches  flung 
on,  and  the  fire  would  be  stifled  and  the  smoke 
rise  thicker  and  blacker,  with  the  sunlight  always 
catching  the  upper  curls;  then  crackling  and  snap 
ping  and  breathing,  the  fire  would  get  hold,  get 


AND  OLD   YARNS.  97 

the  better,  mount  through  the  thick,  encumbering 
piney  foliage,  and  dart  its  slender  living  spires  up 
into  the  column  of  smoke  again. 

"Do  see  how  he  stands!"  cried  Flora.  "Ditto, 
why  don't  you  work?" 

"I  am  looking." 

"Did  you  never  see  a  bonfire  before?" 

"Never  such  a  beauty  of  a  one." 

"Beauty?"  said  Flora,  coming  to  his  side  to  look 
— "where  is  the  beauty?  It  is  just  a  good  fire. 
You  are  a  ridiculous  boy,  Meredith.  Go  to  work." 

"0  don't  you  think  it  is  pretty?"  cried  Maggie, 
throwing  down  her  last  burden  and  panting.  "I 
think  it  is  lovely  !  And  do  you  smell  how  sweet  it 
is,  Flora?" 

"She  is  a  poor  girl  without  nose  or  eyes,"  said 
Meredith.  "  Well,  here  goes ! " 

Taking  hold  of  the  work  again,  his  powerful 
arms  flung  the  branches  and  tops  of  pine  on  the 
burning  heap,  while  the  girls  ran  for  more.  It 
took  a  strong  arm  now,  for  the  fire  was  so  large 
and  so  fierce  that  one  could  not  come  nigh  it. 
Meredith  kept  the  girls  all  at  a  distance  and  him 
self  fed  the  flames ;  till  all  the  present  stock  of  fuel 
was  laid  on,  and  the  wood-choppers  went  off  to 
their  dinner.  There  was  no  more  to  be  done  then 
but  to  watch  the  show,  and  as  the  fire  began  to 
lessen  and  die  down,  find  a  spot  where  the  tea 
kettle  might  be  set,  at  the  edge  of  the  glowing 
heap.  It  was  no  use  to  begin  to  read,  they  all 
agreed,  till  they  had  their  dinner.  And  soon  the 
7 


98  PINE   NEEDLES 

coffee  could  be  made;  and  the  four  enjoyed  their 
meal  as  only  those  can  who  have  Avorked  for  it. 
They  had  their  chicken  pie  and  their  roasted  sweet 
potatoes;  the  omelet  they  for  to-day  dispensed  with, 
being  all  tired.  They  took  their  dinner  on  the 
bank,  there  where  they  could  look  away  down  to 
the  river  and  see  the  hilly  shores  beyond  on  the 
other  side ;  and  Meredith  averred  that  sweet  pota 
toes  never  were  so  sweet  before. 

"Such  air!"  said  he.     "And  such  colouring." 

"And  it  is  just  warm  enough,"  added  Maggie. 

"Well,  I  have  got  cooled  off  now,"  said  Flora; 
"but  I  consider  feeding  bonfires  to  be  hot  work." 

Then,  when  dinner  was  over,  and  the  things 
packed  into  the  cart,  they  arranged  themselves  on 
the  moss  in  a  delicious  feeling  of  resting  and  re 
freshed  languor;  the  girls  took  out  their  fancy  work, 
and  .Meredith  opened  his  book.  Maggie,  who  did 
not  trouble  herself  about  fancy  work,  crept  close  to 
his  side  and  looked  with  fascinated  eyes  at  the 
strange  characters  out  of  which  he  brought  such 
delightful  things  to  her  ears. 

"'It  was  about  the  year  940,  according  to  the 
chronicle,  that  a  boy  of  thirteen  or  fourteen  years 
old  was  herding  his  father's  cattle  on  the  waste 
land  not  far  from  Hermannsburg;  when  there  came 
along  a  splendid  train  of  armed  cavaliers  riding 
their  horses  proudly.  The  boy  looks  with  delight 
on  the  shining  helmets  and  coats  of  mail,  the 
glittering  spears  and  the  stately  horsemen,  and  the 
thought  rises  in  his  heart — "Now  that  looks  some- 


AND    OLD    YARNS.  99 

thing  like!"  All  of  a  sudden  the  horsemen  quit 
the  road,  which  here  wound  about  crookedly,  and 
come  riding  across  country,  over  the  open  land 
where  he  is  keeping  his  cattle.  That  seems  to 
him  too  bad,  for  the  field  is  no  highway,  and  the 
ground  belongs  to  his  father.  He  considers  a  mo 
ment,  then  goes  forward  to  meet  the  riders,  plants 
himself  in  their  course,  and  calls  out  to  them — 
"Turn  back!  the  road  is  yours,  the  field  is  mine." 
There  is  a  tall  man  riding  at  the  head  of  the  troop, 
on  whose  brow  a  grave  majesty  is  enthroned;  he 
looks  wonderingly  at  the  boy  who  has  dared  to 
put  himself  in  his  way.  He  checks  his  horse,  tak 
ing  a  certain  pleasure  in  the  spirited  little  fellow, 
who  returns  his  look  so  boldly  and  fearlessly  and 
never  budges  from  his  place. 

"'"Who  are  you,  boy?" 

'""I  am  Hermann  Billing's  oldest  son;  and  my 
name  is  Hermann  too,  and  this  field  is  my  father's, 
and  you  must  not  ride  over  it." 

"  * "  But  I  will,  boy,"  answered  the  rider  with 
threatening  sternness.  "Get  out  of  the  way,  or 
I  throw  you  down — "  and  with  that  he  lifts  his 
spear.  The  boy,  however,  stands  fearlessly  still, 
looks  up  at  the  horseman  with  eyes  of  fire  and 
says — 

"  '  "  Right  is  right;  and  you  have  no  business  to 
ride  over  this  field;  you  shall  ride  over  me  if  you 
do." 

"  *  "What  do  you  know  about  the  right,  boy?" 

"  *  "  My  father  is  the  Billing,  and  I  shall  be  Bill- 


100  PINE  NEEDLES 

ing  after  him,"  answered  the  boy,  "and  nobody 
may  do  a  wrong  before  a  Billing." 

'"Then  still  more  threateningly  the  rider  called 
out — "Is  this  right  then,  boy,  to  refuse  obedience 
to  your  king?  I  am  your  king,  Otto." 

"'"You  Otto?  our  king?  the  shield  of  Germany 
and  the  flower  of  the  Saxons,  that  my  father  tells 
us  so  much  about?  Otto  the  son  of  Heinrich 
the  Saxon?  No,  that  you  are  not.  Otto  the  king 
guards  the  right,  and  you  are  doing  the  wrong. 
Otto  don't  do  that,  my  father  says." 

" '  "  Take  me  to  your  father,  my  good  boy,"  an 
swered  the  king;  and  an  unwonted  gentleness  and 
kindliness  beamed  upon  his  stern  face. 

"'"Yonder  is  my  father's  dwelling-house,  you 
can  see  it,"  said  Hermann;  "but  my  father  has 
trusted  the  cattle  here  to  me  and  I  cannot  leave 
them,  so  I  cannot  bring  you  there.  But  if  you 
are  King  Otto,  turn  off"  out  of  the  field  into  the 
road;  for  the  king  guards  the  law." 

"'And  King  Otto  the  first,  surnamed  the  Great, 
obeyed  the  boy's  voice,  for  the  boy  was  in  the 
right,  and  rode  back  to  the  road.  Presently  Her 
mann  was  fetched  from  the  field.  The  king  had 
gone  into  his  father's  house  and  had  said  to  him, 
"Billing,  give  me  your  oldest  son  and  let  him  go 
with  me ;  I  will  have  him  brought  up  at  court ;  he 
is  going  to  be  a  true  man,  and  I  have  need  of  true 
men."  And  what  true  Saxon  could  refuse  any 
thing  to  a  king  like  Otto? 

" '  So  the  brave  boy  was  to  journey  forward  with 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  101 

his  king,  and  when  Otto  asked  him,  "Hermann 
will  yon  go  with  me?"  the  boy  answered  gladly, 
"  I  will  go  with  you ;  you  are  the  king,  for  you 
protect  the  right." 

"'So  King  Otto  took  the  boy  along  with  him, 
that  he  might  have  him  brought  up  to  be  a  faithful 
and  capable  servant  of  the  crown.  Otto  was  allied 
in  the  bonds  of  warmest  friendship  with  Adaldag, 
the  archbishop  of  Bremen,  a  man  who  was  distin 
guished  for  his  learning,  his  piety,  and  a  lively 
zeal  for  the  spread  of  Christianity  among  the  then 
heathen  Danes  and  Norsemen.  Otto  could  not  con 
fide  the  boy  who  had  become  so  dear  to  him  to  a 
better  teacher;  and  so  he  sent  him  to  Adaldag  at 
Bremen.  Adaldag,  too,  recognized  the  great  gifts 
which  God  had  bestowed  on  the  boy,  and  had  him 
instructed  under  his  own  eye  by  the  most  able  ec 
clesiastics;  among  whom  a  certain  Raginbrand  is 
especially  named,  who  later  was  appointed  to  be 
bishop  and  preacher  to  the  heathen  in  Denmark, 
and  laboured  there  with  great  faithfulness  and  a 
great  blessing.  In  Bremen  Hermann  grew  up  to 
be  a  good  young  man,  loving  his  Saviour  from  his 
heart;  but  also  he  was  instructed  in  the  use  of 
arms  and  in  the  business  of  the  state,  for  Adaldag 
was  at  that  time  one  of  King  Otto's  most  confiden 
tial  advisers.  And  now  Otto  took  the  young  Her 
mann  into  his  court;  and  soon  could  perceive  that 
he  had  not  deceived  himself  when  his  acuteness 
discerned  the  boy's  lofty  nature.  Spirit,  daring, 
and  keen  intelligence,  shot  in  fire  from  the  young 


102  PINE   NEEDLES 

man's  blue  eyes ;  his  uncommonly  fine  figure  had 
been  grandly  developed  by  knightly  exercises ;  and 
with  all  that,  he  was  so  humble-hearted  and  at 
tached  to  his  benefactor  with  such  grateful,  touch 
ing  devotion,  that  Otto's  eyes  rested  on  him  with 
pleasure,  and  he  often  called  Hermann  his  truest 
friend,  even  called  him  "  his  son."  But  the  loveli 
est  thing  in  Hermann  was,  that  he  never  forgot  his 
origin ;  he  shewed  the  most  charming  kindness  to 
those  who  were  poor  and  mean ;  so  that  high  and 
low  at  the  king's  court  respected  as  much  as  they 
loved  him.  So  he  mounted  from  step  to  step,  was 
dubbed  a  knight,  attended  the  king  on  his  jour 
neys  and  campaigns,  and  the  king  even  entrusted 
to  him  the  education  of  his  two  sons  Wilhelm  and 
Ludolf.  Still  later  he  administered  the  most  im 
portant  offices  of  state  to  the  satisfaction  of  the 
king;  and  often  travelled  through  the  country  of 
the  Saxons  as  Graf,  i.  e,,  a  judge. 

"  '  That  is:  The  judgment  of  criminal  cases,  or  the 
tribunal  of  life  and  death,  in  the  whole  German  fa 
therland  was  vested  in  the  king  alone.  Therefore 
at  certain  times  the  royal  judges  made  a  progress 
through  the  entire  German  country.  They  were 
called  Graiven,  from  the  word  graw  or  grau'  (that 
means,  'grey,'  Maggie)  because  ordinarily  old,  ex 
perienced,  eminent  men  were  chosen  for  the  office. 
These  courts  for  cases  of  life  and  death  were  hold- 
eii  by  the  Grafs  under  the  open  sky,  in  public,  and 
in  full  daylight,  so  that  the  judgment  pronounced 
could  be  at  once  carried  into  execution.  Our 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  103 

chronicle  takes  this  occasion  to  relate  a  story 
about  our  Hermann  Billing,  which  sets  in  a  clear 
light  the  pure  character  of  this  admirable  man.  In 
his  journey  ings  as  Graf,  he  came  also  to  his  native 
place,  to  Harm's  ouden  dorp.  It  was  then  long 
after  his  father's  death ;  and  as  head  of  the  family 
he  had  distributed  his  seven  manor-farms,  as  fiefs, 
partly  to  his  brothers,  partly  to  other  near  rela 
tions.  The  great  honours  to  which  Hermann  had 
been  elevated  had  become  the  ruin  of  these  men ; 
they  behaved  themselves  proudly  towards  their 
neighbours,  and  even  took  unrighteous  ways  to  en 
large  their  boundaries,  secure  in  the  belief  that  110 
one  would  dare  to  call  them  in  question  about 
it,  whilst  they  had  such  a  powerful  brother  and 
kinsman.  Now  when  Hermann,  after  the  accus 
tomed  fashion,  was  holding  the  criminal  court  on 
the  Graivenberg  (where  now  the  graven  farm  lies, 
half  an  hour  from  Hermannsburg)  there  presented 
himself  a  certain  Conrad,  a  freiling,  that  is,  a  free 
man ;  and  accused  the  holders  of  Hermann's  fiefs, 
that  they  had  by  violent  and  unjust  means  taken 
from  him  half  his  farm  and  joined  it  to  their  own 
estates. 

" '  Hermann's  face,  at  other  times  so  gentle  and 
kind,  grew  dark,  and  with  deep  sadness  but  with  a 
lofty  severity  he  ordered  his  brothers  and  kinsmen 
to  be  brought  before  him.  Conrad's  charge  was 
proved  to  be  true,  for  the  Billings  could  not  lie, 
even  if  they  had  done  injustice.  And  what  did 
Hermann?  When  the  acts  of  violence  that  his 


104:  PINE  NEEDLES 

brothers  and  relations  had  done  were  proved,  great 
tears  flowed  down  the  cheeks  of  the  tall,  strong 
man,  and  he  cried  out  with  a  voice  which  his  tears 
half  choked,  "  Could  you  do  that,  and  bear  the  name 
of  Billing !  "  He  said  no  more,  but  was  seen  to  fold 
his  hands  and  pray  with  the  greatest  earnestness. 
Then  he  spoke :  "  My  brothers  and  kinsmen,  make 
your  peace  now  with  God;  we  look  upon  each  other 
for  the  last  time.  You  are  guilty  of  death;  you 
must  die ;  you  have  doubly  deserved  death,  because 
you  are  of  the  race  of  Billing." 

"  '  The  priests,  who  were  always  in  attendance 
on  the  tribunal  of  life  and  death  where  Hermann 
was  the  judge,  came  forward;  in  the  grounds  of 
the  court  they  received  the  criminals'  confession, 
and  upon  their  penitent  acknowledgment  of  their 
sin,  gave  them  assurance  of  forgiveness  and  then 
the  bread  that  represents  the  Lord's  body.  So,  rec 
onciled  with  God,  the  seven  men  came  back  to  the 
place  of  judgment;  and  after  Hermann  had  again 
prayed  with  them  and  commended  the  penitents 
to  the  Lord,  he  had  their  heads  struck  off  before 
his  eyes.' " 

Meredith  stopped  perforce,  for  a  storm  of  excla 
mations  burst  upon  him.  "  Horrible !  "  "  Fright 
ful  !  "  "I  never  heard  of  such  an  awful  man  !  " 

"  I  think  he  was  rather  an  awful  man,"  said  Mer 
edith.  "  I  have  no  doubt  all  ill-doers  would  have 
held  him  in  a  good  deal  of  awe." 

"  But  his  own  brothers !  "  said  Esther. 

"They  were  convicted  criminals,  all  the  same." 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  105 

"  But  don't  you  think  a  man  ought  to  spare  his 
own ! " 

"  A  man — yes.     A  judge — no." 

"  But  a  judge  is  a  man." 

"  I  should  think  it  was  very  disagreeable  for  a 
man  to  be  a  judge,"  said  Meredith. 

"  But  why  ?  "  asked  Flora.  "  I  should  think  it 
was  nice,  just  for  that  reason,  that  a  man  could 
spare  people  he  wanted  to  spare." 

"Flora  Franklin!"  exclaimed  her  brother.  "Is 
that  your  idea  of  a  judge?" 

"  It  is  my  idea  of  a  man." 

"But  don't  you  know  better ?  A  judge  has  no 
business  to  spare  anybody,  except  the  innocent; 
his  duty  is  to  see  justice  done ;  he  has  nothing  to 
do  with  mercy." 

"  Nothing  to  do  with  mercy !     0  Meredith !  " 

"  Not  as  a  judge.  He  is  put  in  his  place  to  see 
the  laws  executed." 

"Then  you  think  that  dreadful  old  heathen  you 
are  reading  about,  did  right  to  have  his  friends' 
heads  struck  oif  ?" 

"  I  think  he  did  just  his  duty." 

"0  do  you,  Ditto?"  cried  Maggie. 

"  He  did  not  make  the  law,  Maggie ;  he  had  only 
to  see  it  obeyed.  The  law  was  terribly  severe ;  but 
I  think  the  judge  was  very  tender." 

"0  Ditto!" 

"He  was  what  you  call  a  true  man.  He  was 
no  heathen,  Flora.  But  nothing  would  make  him 
budge  from  the  right.  I  think  he  was  magnificent. 


106  PINE   NEEDLES  .  . 

I  wonder  how  many  men  could  be  found  nowa 
days  who  would  be  faithful  to  duty  at  such  a  cost." 

"You  have  strange  notions  of  duty!"  said  his 
sister. 

"  I  am  afraid  you  have  imperfect  notions  of  faith 
fulness." 

"Well,  go  on.  I  have  no  opinion  of  religion  that 
is  not  kind." 

"The  religion  that  is  from  above  is  first  pure, 
then  peaceable,'"  said  Meredith. 

"  Go  on,"  said  Flora.  "  I  suppose  you  would  cut 
my  head  off,  if  you  were  judge,  and  I  had  done 
something  you  thought  deserved  it." 

"  If  the  law  said  you  deserved  it.  But  I  think  I 
would  give  my  head  in  that  case  for  yours,  Flora. 
It  would  be  easier." 

"  What  good  would  that  do  ?  " 

"  Keep  the  law  unbroken  and  save  you.  Well, 
I  will  go  on  with  my  story — 

" '  When  the  sitting  of  the  court  was  ended  he 
sent  his  retinue  to  find  quarters  in  the  other  six 
of  his  manors,  but  he  himself  passed  the  night  at 
the  principal  manor-house  on  the  Oerze,  which  he 
had  himself  built,  called  the  Bondenliof,  that  is,  the 
"peasant's  manor;"  for  in  old  Saxon  Bond  meant 
a  free  peasant.  But  what  a  night  that  was !  Sleep 
never  came  to  his  eyes ;  he  passed  that  night  and 
also  the  following  day  in  praying  and  fasting. 
When  at  last,  by  the  word  of  God  and  the  talk 
of  a  faithful  priest  he  had  got  some  comfort,  at 
least  a  little,  he  vowed  to  the  Lord  that  he  would 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  107 

build  a  church  on  this  manor,  the  "Bondenhof," 
which  should  be  dedicated  to  the  apostles  Peter 
and  Paul,  like  the  first  one  built  by  his  forefathers 
at  the  Deep  Moor,  which  in  the  course  of  time  had 
become  far  too  small.  And  as  with  him  to  resolve 
and  to  do  were  always  the  same  thing,  he  did  not 
quit  the  manor  till  he  had  laid  the  foundation-stone 
of  the  new  church  and  given  order  to  have  the 
building  vigorously  carried  forward.  That  was  in 
the  year  958. 

"  *  By  this  deed  of  rigid,  impartial  justice,  which 
nevertheless  was  found  in  beautiful  harmony  with 
a  tender  and  good  heart,  the  honour  in  which  peo 
ple  held  him  was  raised  to  such  a  point,  that  every 
where  they  carried  him  on  their  hands;  and  at 
his  return  to  the  royal  court  he  was  received  with 
wondering  admiration.  The  great  Otto  folded 
him  in  his  arms  and  called  him  his  most  faithful 
knight,  who  served  his  God  and  his  king  with  equal 
fidelity. 

" '  Soon  thereafter  followed  Hermann's  greatest 
elevation.  Otto  had  determined,  you  must  know, 
in  the  year  960,  to  take  a  journey  into  Italy,  in  or 
der  to  compose  certain  troubles  which  had  arisen 
through  the  godless  pope  John.  But  now  his  be 
loved  Saxon  country,  out  of  which  Otto  himself 
drew  his  origin,  lay  just  in  the  north  of  Germany; 
and  was  bordered  on  the  north  and  northeast  by  the 
Danes  and  Sclaves,  but  recently  conquered,  who 
indeed  were  in  part  nominally  Christian,  but  in 
part  were  still  heathen,  and  the  whole  of  them 


108  PINE    NEEDLES 

haters  of  Christianity.  Who  would  take  care  of 
Christian  Saxony  in  the  king's  absence,  which  it 
was  possible  might  last  for  years?  Then  Otto's 
eye  fell  upon  the  faithful  Hermann,  and  he  had 
found  his  man.  Hermann  was  appointed  to  the 
dukedom  of  Saxony,  so  that  he  might  thus  supply 
the  king's  place  and  govern  in  his  stead.  When 
this  was  made  known  to  the  good  Archbishop  Adal- 
dag,  who  was  to  accompany  the  king  in  his  jour 
ney  to  Kome,  he  rejoiced  aloud,  and  said  to  the 
king,  "Now  we  can  travel  in  peace  and  have  no 
care ;  for,  0  king,  you  can  trust  him  with  the  land, 
and  I  can  trust  him  with  my  church;  Hermann 
with  God's  help  will  protect  church  and  land  both." 
And  that  is  what  the  faithful  man  truly  did.  In 
the  following  year  the  king  really  set  out  on  his 
journey  to  Rome,  and  Adaldag  went  with  him. 
Otto  set  up  a  stern  tribunal  in  Rome ;  deposed  the 
godless  pope  John,  and  made  good  Leo  pope.  Five 
years  Otto  spent  in  Italy;  and  wherever  he  came 
he  wrought  righteousness  and  judgment,  punished 
the  wicked  and  relieved  the  innocent  and  oppressed ; 
being  such  a  prince  as  Germany  has  had  few.  In 
the  year  962  Otto  was  solemnly  crowned  kaiser 
by  Leo  at  Rome,  and  thus  acknowledged  as  the 
earthly  head  of  the  whole  Christian  world.  Dur 
ing  all  this  time,  the  Saxons  might  count  them 
selves  happy  that  they  had  such  a  true  and  valiant 
duke  in  Hermann.  The  Sclaves  ventured  again 
to  make  a  marauding  incursion,  probably  to  try 
whether  in  Otto's  absence  they  could  not  accom- 


AND    OLD    YARNS.  109 

plisli  something.  One  tribe  of  the  great  Sclavic 
race,  namely  the  Wends,  dwelt  not  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Elbe  only  but  also  on  this  side,  as  far  as 
the  neighbourhood  of  Melzen.  These  Wends,  on 
the  hither  side  of  the  Elbe,  reinforced  by  a  strong 
party  of  their  brethren  from  beyond  the  river, 
undertook  a  campaign  against  Saxony;  for  they 
themselves  were  still  heathen  and  therefore  had  a 
hatred  against  the  Christians.  This  hatred  was  all 
the  stronger,  because  the  Saxons  under  Otto  had 
vanquished  them.  In  this  campaign,  so  far  as 
they  went,  they  burnt  and  laid  waste  everything, 
and  in  especial  their  aim  was  directed  against  the 
churches  and  chapels  and  Christian  priests;  the 
former  were  burned  and  levelled  with  the  ground ; 
the  latter  were  put  to  death  in  tortures.  So  it  be 
fell  with  that  first  church  which  Landolf  had  built 
at  the  Deep  Moor;  it  was  burned  down  and  entirely 
destroyed.  Eight  priests,  who  served  this  church 
and  the  chapels  lying  in  the  neighbourhood,  were 
slain;  part  of  them  at  once;  part  of  them  were 
dragged  to  the  Wendish  idol  altar  in  Radegast,  not 
far  from  the  Elbe,  and  there  slaughtered  in  honour 
of  the  heathen  god;  those  chapels  were  likewise 
destroyed.  Hermann  was  just  come  to  Bremen 
when  this  news  reached  him.  He  rapidly  gathered 
his  warriors,  came  suddenly  upon  the  robbing  and 
plundering  Wends  at  the  so-called  Huhnenburg, 
obliged  them  to  flee  with  great  loss,  and  pursued 
them  without  stay  or  respite  into  their  own  coun 
try  ;  whereupon  they  sued  for  peace,  and  promised 


110  PINE   NEEDLES 

they  would  keep  quiet  and  accept  the  Christian  re 
ligion.  He  granted  them  peace,  but  went  on  to 
destroy  their  idol  temple  in  Radegast,  and  then 
returned  in  triumph  home.  He  next  applied  his 
whole  energy  to  repair  the  destruction  which 
had  been  wrought,  to  rebuild  the  churches  and 
chapels  and  establish  priests  in  them.  And  the 
better  to  secure  the  land,  and  especially  his  own 
beloved  inheritance  against  the  like  predatory  in 
cursions,  he  built  strong  fortresses,  as  for  instance 
the  Hermannsburg '  (burg  means  a  castle  or  for 
tress,  Maggie),  'the  Hermannsburg,  around  which 
now  the  people  began  to  build  again,  who  had 
fled  away  before  the  Wends;  the  Oerzenburg,  the 
Wiezenburg,  etc.' " 

"Then  that  is  how  so  many  names  have  come  to 
end  with  '  burg, ' "  said  Esther. 

"Hermann  did  not  build  all  the  castles,"  said 
Meredith.  "But  yes — that  is  very  much  how  it 
has  come.  In  those  old  Middle  ages,  when  the 
right  of  the  strongest  was  the  only  prevailing  one, 
naturally  there  were  a  great  many  castles  built. 
Indeed  all  the  nobles  lived  in  castles,  and  must. 
Just  look  at  the  pictures  of  the  Rhine,  to  see  what 
the  Middle  ages  were;  see  how  the  people  had 
to  perch  their  fortresses  up  on  almost  inaccessible 
peaks  of  rock,  where  it  must  have  been  terribly 
inconvenient  to  live,  one  would  think.  I  suppose 
people  knew  little  of  what  we  call  conveniences  in 
these  days." 

"Then  round  the  principal  fortresses,  naturally, 


AND  OLD   YARNS.  Ill 

the  villages  grew  up,"  said  Flora.  "They  would 
cluster  round  the  castles  for  protection." 

"Well,  I  never  thought  before  that  one  could 
see  the  Middle  ages  through  the  stereoscope,"  said 
Maggie. 

"Pretty  fair,"  said  Meredith.  "Well,  let  us  go 
on  with  Hermann.  'Through  his  unintermitting 
activity  all  was  soon  in  blooming  condition  again, 
and  no  enemy  dared  to  shew  himself  any  more. 
Before  his  end  in  the  year  972,  he  had  the  joy  of 
seeing  the  church,  the  foundation-stone  of  which 
he  had  laid  at  the  Bondenhof,  consecrated  on  Peter 
and  Paul's  day.  That  is  this  same  church  which 
is  still  standing  in  Hermannsburg,  and  in  which 
we  hold  divine  service,' " 

"0  Ditto!  is  that  church  standing  yet?  that  Her 
mann  built?" 

"And  the  very  foundation-stone  that  Hermann 
laid  is  there  to  this  day.  I'd  like  to  see  it!  We 
have  nothing  old  in  this  country.  Imagine  at 
tending  a  church  that  has  stood  for  nine  hundred 
years !  '  He  endowed  this  church  with  a  tenth,  and 
gave  almost  the  half  of  the  fields  and  meadows  of 
the  above-named  manor  to  the  Hermannsburger 
pastor. 

" '  Of  his  remaining  great  deeds  our  chronicle 
says  little ;  which  is  natural,  as  it  is  and  proposes 
to  be  only  a  Hermannsburg  chronicle.  In  the  year 
973,  the  same  year  that  his  great  friend  and  bene 
factor  Otto  died,  died  also  Hermann  Billing,  the 
freeman's  son,  who  had  come  to  be  duke  of  Saxony. 


112  PINE  NEEDLES 

About  his  end  the  chronicle  relates  only  that  he 
was  sick  but  a  few  days,  that  he  wished  for  and  re 
ceived  the  Holy  Supper  before  his  death;  admon 
ished  his  son  Benno,  or  Bernhard,  who  was  his  heir : 
"  My  son,  be  true  to  your  God  and  your  kaiser,  a 
protector  to  the  church,  and  a  father  to  your  vas 
sals;"  laid  his  hands  upon  his  head  and  blessed 
him ;  and  then  extended  his  hand  to  all  his  weeping 
servants  who  were  assembled,  commended  them  to 
the  grace  of  God;  and  at  last  prayed — "Into  thy 
hands  I  commend  my  spirit;  thou  hast  redeemed 
me,  Lord  God  of  hosts."  Then  he  softly  fell  asleep, 
and  the  same  wonderful  sweetness  which  in  life 
had  given  such  a  charm  to  his  face,  in  death  put  a 
very  glory  around  his  brow. 

" '  King  Otto  the  second  honoured  the  true  man'e 
memory  by  confirming  his  son  Bernhard,  or  Benno, 
as  duke  of  Saxony.' " 


AND  OLD   YARNS.  113 


CHAPTER   VII. 

"Is  that  all?"  said  Maggie. 

"All  in  this  place,  about  Hermann  Billing." 

"I  like  him  very  much!"  said  Maggie  drawing  a 
deep  sigh. 

"  Notwithstanding  he  was  such  an  incorruptible 
judge?" 

"Notwithstanding  he  was  such  a  hard,  cruel 
man,  you  should  say,"  said  Flora.  "Ditto,  you  are 
ridiculous ! " 

"It  is  a  great  mistake,  you  must  remember,  to 
judge  a  man  of  one  time  by  the  lights  or  laws  of 
another." 

"There's  a  law  of  nature,"  said  Flora,  "in  some 
people,  which  makes  them  dislike  to  kill  their 
relations." 

"  There  is  a  higher  law  than  the  law  of  nature. 
Nature  did  not  prevent  Abraham  from  making 
preparations  to  offer  up  Isaac.  It  did  not  hinder 
Moses — " 

"I  do  not  know  what  unnatural  thing  Moses 
did,"  said  Flora;  "but  I  confess  to  you,  I  think 
8 


114  PINE   NEEDLES 

Abraham  acted  much  more  like  a  heathen  than 
like  a  Christian  in  that  event  of  his  life." 

"  Which  only  shews,  that  if  you  had  been  in  his 
place  you  would  have  failed  to  manifest  Abraham's 
faith,  and  so  would  have  entirely  missed  Abra 
ham's  blessing.  '  Because  thou  hast  done  this 
thing,  saith  the  Lord,  and  hast  not  withheld  thy 
son,  thine  only  son — '  then  the  Lord  went  on  to 
heap  blessing  upon  him." 

"  I  don't  see  how  Abraham  could  do  it." 

"Because  he  trusted  God.  It  is  not  trust,  Flo, 
that  will  not  go  any  further  than  it  sees  why." 

"  Ditto,  what  are  you  going  to  read  next  ?  "  said 
Maggie." 

"  We'll  see.  Next  thing,  I  think,  will  be  the  de 
scription  Pastor  Harms  gives  of  that  old  church 
which  Hermann  Billing  built;  Hermann  the  duke, 
I  mean.  Don't  you  want  to  hear  it  ?  " 

"  0  yes.     The  description  of  it  as  it  is  now  ?  " 

"As  it  is  now.  But  what  a  wonderful  sort  of 
a  church  is  this  we  are  in ! "  said  Meredith  look 
ing  up. 

"  Here,  this  bank,  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"This  bank;  and  these  pillars  of  tree-stems ;  and 
these  wonderful  Gothic  windows  of  tree-branches, 
through  which  the  light  comes  broken  by  transom 
and  mullioii.  And  the  incense  which  fills  nature's 
cathedral.  And  the  stillness.  And  the  preaching." 

"Don't  get  highfaluten,  Meredith,"  said  his  sister. 

"No.     That  would  be  a  pity,  here." 

"  I  never  heard  of  silent  preaching  before." 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  115 

"  The  strongest  of  all." 

"Is  it ?  Well,  go  on  and  read.  My  work  gets 
on  best  then." 

"It  is  too  lovely  to  do  anything  but  look,  and 
breathe.  The  air  is  most  delicious.  And  nature 
seems  so  wide  and  free.  I  have  an  odd  feeling  that 
I  am  floating  with  those  clouds  yonder,  and  flow 
ing  softly  with  the  river,  and  hovering  about  gen 
erally,  like  those  eagles.  Do  you  see  those  eagles  ?  " 

"  Highfaluten  again,  Meredith,"  said  his  sister. 

"  Well,  one  good  poet  has  been  highfaluten  then 
before  me.  Don't  you  remember,  Maggie,  some 
thing  your  uncle  was  repeating  one  day  ?  I  have 
never  forgotten  it — 

"  'My  soul  into  the  boughs  does  glide.' 

It  is  an  odd  feeling — but  it  makes  me  very  rich  for 
the  present.  This  is  the  loveliest  place !  And  now 
you  shall  have  the  Hermannsburg  church.  So  Pas 
tor  Harms  writes: 

"  'It  is  a  great  thing  indeed,  and  a  beautiful 
thing,  to  know  somewhat  of  the  origin  and  of 
the  history  of  the  church  in  which  one  worships 
and  serves  God.  When  I  step  into  our  church, 
whether  it  be  for  holding  divine  service  or  that  1 
may  pray  there  alone,  every  time,  I  feel  my  whole 
inmost  soul  stiued.  The  very  walk  to  the  church 
through  the  church-yard  is  edifying  to  me.  The 
church  at  the  beginning  was  situated  upon  a  little 
eminence,  so  that  it  was  needful  to  mount  several 
steps  to  get  to  the  church  doors.  Now  one  must 


116  PINE   NEEDLES 

go  down  several  steps  from  the  church-yard  to  reach 
the  entrance  of  the  church.  How  comes  that! 
Since  the  year  972  the  church-yard  has  been  the 
place  of  burial.  The  dust  of  those  laid  within  it 
has  raised  the  ground  level,  till  now  the  church 
lies  lower  than  the  church-yard.  A  hill  has  grown 
out  of  the  dust  of  the  dead,  and  over  this  hill  I 
go  into  the  church.  Does  not  this  walk  of  itself 
preach  in  the  most  impressive  way:  "Put  thine 
house  in  order,  0  man,  for  thou  must  die !  "  Then 
when  I  step  inside  the  church,  what  a  new  sermon 
I  get !  Since  972  years  after  Christ,  therefore  since 
880  years  ago,  men  have  worshipped  there  the 
Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost;  have  sung 
in  his  honour  the  church's  songs  of  praise;  have 
thither  brought  their  children  to  be  baptized ;  have 
heard  the  preaching  of  the  divine  word  there,  have 
eaten  and  drunk  the  emblems  of  the  body  and  blood 
of  the  Lord  there,  have  bowed  their  knees  there, 
where  now  I  bow  mine !  It  always  seems  to  me 
then,  as  if  the  veil  were  parted  which  divides  the 
church  up  yonder  from  the  church  down  below. 
Where  I  am,  here  have  those  who  are  fallen  asleep 
once  been  and  worshipped;  and  where  they  are 
now,  thither  shall  I  go  also.  So  in  blessed  faith  I 
can  cry  out,  "  A  holy  Christian  church ! "  Not  a 
place  in  the  world  is  so  dear  to  me  as  the  church, 
my  beloved  church.  I  have  no  paternal  mansion ; 
for  I  am  the  son  of  a  pastor,  and  pastors  leave  no 
inheritance  for  their  children;  and  yet  I  have  a 
Father's  house,  the  best  there  is  in  the  world,  my 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  117 

beloved  church ;  truly  that  is  God's  house,  and  God 
is  my  Father,  arid  so  it  is  justly  and  truly  my  home. 
" '  And  how  wonderfully  God  has  guarded  this 
house  of  his.  What  wars  have  raged  since  this 
house  has  been  standing,  and  it  has  remained  un 
injured.  Since  the  thirty  years'  war,  Hermannsburg 
has  been  four  times  burned  down ;  this  house  has 
remained  standing.  Twice  lightning  has  struck 
the  tower,  and  so  shattered  the  foundations  that 
only  a  little  turret  stands  now  upon  the  riven  walls 
instead  of  the  slender  one-hundred-and-eighty-feet- 
high  spire  which  was  there  before ;  but  the  church 
remained  untouched.  The  interior  has  been  al 
tered;  the  many-coloured  paintings  on  the  arched 
vault  of  the  ceiling  are  gone;  the  many-coloured 
galleries  have  disappeared;  in  the  body  of  the 
church  itself  gallery  over  gallery  mounts  up  to  the 
vaulted  ceiling,  to  give  accommodation  for  the 
hearers;  but  the  church  itself  has  remained  un 
changed.  And  when  I  think  of  the  blessings  that 
have  gone  forth  from  this  house,  what  churches, 
chapels,  and  cloisters  have  sprung  from  here,  in 
Bergen,  in  Wiezendorf,  in  Munster,  in  Muden,  and 
the  chronicle  mentions  many  more;  yes,  when  I 
remember  how  from  the  castles  founded  by  Her 
mann  on  the  Oerze  and  Wieze,  the  castellans  of 
Oerze  and  Wiezendorf  marched  out,  so  early  as  with 
Duke  Bernhard,  to  help  bring  the  heathen  people 
of  Lauenburg  and  Mechlenburg  to  Christianity; 
must  not  then  the  zeal  of  my  forefathers  kindle 
my  own  zeal  to  bring  the  Lord's  blessing,  his  word 


118  PINE    NEEDLES 

and  his  sacraments,  to  the  heathen,  to  the  very 
ends  of  the  earth?  And  now  that  seems  no  longer 
strange  to  me,  "which  seems  strange  to  so  many, 
that  we  from  this  place  should  have  undertaken  to 
send  out  a  peasant  mission.  It  has  not  been  our 
own  doing;  it  has  come  from  our  church  and  our 
history.  Did  the  peasant's  son  Hermann  become 
duke  of  Saxony;  was  the  blessing  of  Christianity 
carried  from  here  into  all  the  region  round  about, 
even  into  the  countries  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Elbe  ?  why  should  not  Hermann's  peasant  church 
preach  among  the  heathen  the  Saviour  who  has 
been  their  own  so  long?  May  such  a  primeval 
blessing  only  make  us  right  thankful,  right  hum 
ble,  right  kind  and  loving,  only  zealous  and  fer 
vent  in  spirit.  We  see  well  enough  that  the  Lord 
can  use  little  things ;  therefore  let  nobody  despise 
us  because  we  are  small,  and  let  us  have  the  joy 
of  serving  the  Lord  with  our  insignificant  gifts 
and  strength,  as  well  as  we  can.  It  is  written 
in  the  Scripture,  "Destroy  it  not,  for  a  blessing  is 
in  it!"' 

Meredith  ceased  reading,  and  there  was  a  silent 
pause  of  a  few  minutes.  Crochet  needles  worked 
busily;  Maggie  sat  pondering;  Meredith  lay  back 
on  his  elbow  on  the  moss  and  looked  down  at  the 
river.  Here  and  there  the  soft-pointed  top  of  a 
young  cedar  rose  up  between,  not  hindering,  only 
as  it  were  embellishing  the  view.  In  the  silence, 
when  the  strokes  of  the  wood-cutters  halted,  little 
sweet  sounds  broke  in,  every  one  of  them  coming 


AND  OLD   YARNS.  119 

like  a  caress  or  a  murmur  of  rest;  two  crows  slow 
ly  flying  over  arid  calling  to  each  other,  some  crick 
ets  chirruping  nearer  by,  a  little  gentle  rustle  and 
lapping  of  the  water,  then  a  bugle  call  from  the 
post  opposite.  Clouds  hardly  moved ;  winds  were 
asleep;  the  air,  fragrant  with  the  breath  of  the 
evergreens,  scarcely  stirred,  luxuriously  warm  and 
still.  The  colouring,  too,  in  which  all  nature 
had  dressed  herself,  gave  another  touch  of  delight 
through  every  object  which  the  eye  rested  on. 

"What  a  sky!"  said  Meredith.  "And  what  air! 
It's  wonderful." 

"Ditto,"  began  Maggie,  "have  they  a  mission  in 
Hermannsburg  ?  " 

"  Yes.     They  have  a  mission  in  Africa." 

"Why  is  it  a  'peasant  mission,'  and  what  does 
that  mean  ?  " 

"Why,  you  see,  Maggie,  the  whole  people  of 
Hermannsburg  are  just  a  parcel  of  peasants,  part 
in  the  village,  and  part  I  believe,  farming  it  here 
and  there  on  the  Luneburg  heath..  They  are  poor 
people;  small  farmers  and  the  like.  They  have 
not  much  money  to  give;  but  when  Pastor  Harms 
had  been  with  them  a  while  and  proposed  to  them 
to  set  about  mission  work,  a  dozen  men  offered 
themselves  to  go.  They  were  already  so  filled  with 
his  own  spirit." 

"And  did  they  go?" 

"  They  had  to  be  put  to  school  first.  They  were 
too  ignorant  to  instruct  the  heathen  or  anybody. 
So  they  were  set  to  study,  under  Pastor  Harms' 


120  PINE   NEEDLES 

brother,  for  three  •  years.  While  they  were  study 
ing,  Pastor  Harms  undertook  building  a  ship  which 
should  carry  them  to  Africa.  The  ship  and  the  men 
were  ready  together  about  the  same  time." 

"  They  could  not  have  been  a  very  poor  people, 
I  should  think,"  said  Flora. 

"They  were,  though;  but  you  see,  they  began 
by  giving  themselves  to  the  Lord;  and  when  peo 
ple  do  that  I  guess  they  generally  find  that  there 
is  a  good  deal  else  to  give.  0  they  were  poor 
enough ;  but  it  would  cost  a  great  deal,  you  know, 
to  pay  their  passage  in  a  ship  belonging  to  other 
people,  and  the  freight  on  all  the  goods  they  must 
carry ;  for  they  were  going  out  not  merely  to  preach, 
but  to  establish  a  colony  and  live  among  the  hea 
then.  And  then,  whenever  new  recruits  for  the 
mission  were  sent  out,  the  expense  would  have  to 
be  incurred  over  again ;  so  they  thought  the  cheap 
est  way  in  the  end  would  be  to  build  their  own 
ship." 

"And  they  did  build  it ?  "  said  Maggie. 

"Certainly.  The  good  ship  'Candace.'  And  ev 
erybody  helped  in  some  way.  The  shoemakers 
made  shoes,  and  the  tailors  made  clothes,  to  go  out 
with  the  mission;  the  women  knitted  and  sewed. 
Do  you  want  to  hear  what  Pastor  Harms  says 
about  it?" 

"Oyes,  Ditto,  please!" 

"Yes,  read  on — anything,"  said  Flora. 

"Two  men  of  the  first  twelve  had  died,  and 
two  others  had  proved  false.  Eight  left;  to  whom 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  121 

another  eight  joined  themselves,  who  would  go  out 
as  colonists.     Now  I  will  read : 

" '  So  by  God's  grace,  everything  was  ready. 
And  now  one  should  have  seen  the  busy  industry, 
the  lively  expectation,  the  gleesome  bustle,  as  the 
last  hand,  I  may  say,  was  put  to  everything.  In 
the  Mission  house,  what  learning  and  counselling 
and  arranging;  in  the  workshops  belonging  to  it, 
what  smith-work  and  cabinet-work  and  tailoring; 
how  our  women  and  girls  sewed!  Our  village 
shoemaker  worked  with  his  might  at  the  foot-gear 
to  be  taken  along;  our  village  cooper  did  the  same 
at  the  great  water  casks  for  the  ship ;  my  brother 
went  out  with  the  mission  pupils  in  leisure  hours 
and  picked  berries  which  were  to  be  taken  along. 
Here  people  brought  dried  apples,  pears  and  plums; 
there  buckwheat  and  buckwheat  groats ;  here  rye, 
flour,  peas,  wheat;  there  sides  of  bacon,  hams,  and 
sausages.  Then  again  house-furnishing  articles, 
tools,  heather  brooms,  trumpets  and  horns,  even 
live  hogs  and  poultry,  and  even  potatoes  were 
hauled  along — and  all  was  to  go.  Even  a  fir-tree 
with  its  roots  was  planted  in  a  large  pot  filled  with  . 
earth,  in  order  that  on  the  ocean  the  travellers 
might  light  up  a  Christmas  tree.  Then  again 
came  packages  of  linen  made  up,  and  of  stuff.  * 
And  there  was  a  great  deal  that  never  came  to 
Hermannsburg.  Whatever  was  prepared  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Elbe,  in  Hamburg,  Lubeck,  Haide, 
etc.,  was  kept  in  Hamburg,  and  we  never  saw  it  at 
all.  In  Hamburg  alone  there  were  handed  over 


122  PINE   NEEDLES 

from  female  friends  of  the  Mission,  one  hundred 
and  twenty-eight  cotton  shirts,  all  finished  and 
ready;  from  Haide  forty  striped  shirts  for  the  na 
tives  ;  from  Lubeck  and  Mechlenburg,  besides  beau 
tiful  under-linen,  all  sorts  of  pictures  and  little 
things  for  the  heathen;  from  some  children  here 
came  writing  boxes,  pens,  and  writing  books  for 
the  heathen  children.  Also  from  here,  from  Osna- 
bruck,  Schaumburg,  Luneburg,  Bremen  and  neigh 
bourhood,  whole  rolls  of  linen  cloth.  There  was  a 
stir  and  spring  of  love  that  moved  people's  hearts. 
Every  one  of  the  emigrants  was  to  take  a  guri  with 
him,  for  in  East  Africa  there  are  a  great  many  wild 
beasts,  lions,  elephants,  serpents,  etc.  Scarcely  had 
this  become  known,  when  guns,  rifles,  double-bar 
relled  rifles,  pistols  and  daggers  came  in,  till  we 
had  enough  to  leave  some  for  a  future  party  that 
might  be  sent  out.  Then  would  come  our  har 
bour-master,  or  our  captain,  from  Harburg,  to  ar 
range  this  or  that;  then  our  pupils  journeyed  to 
Harburg  to  bring  money  for  the  ship.  One  hardly 
knew  where  his  head  was.' " 

"Well,  did  they  go  to  Africa,  Ditto ?  " 
"The  colonists  and  missionaries;  yes,  sixteen  of 
them." 

"  Whereabouts  in  Africa  ?  " 

"  The  east  coast,  about  Natal." 

"  I  haven't  the  least  idea  where  Natal  is." 

"You  Avould  do  well  to  look  it  out  on  the  map." 

"  And  are  they  there  yet,  Ditto  ?  " 

"  They  went  in  the  year  1853.     It  is  not  likely 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  123 

they  are  all  there  now.  But  others  followed  them, 
Maggie,  year  after  year,  till  now  there  are,  I  believe, 
between  twenty  and  thirty  stations  where  they  are 
settled." 

"All  from  Hermannsburg !  Ditto,  it  is  very 
curious!  So  many  years  ago,  Hermann's  castles 
sent  out  soldiers  to  bring  heathen  Mechlenburg  to 
the  Christian  religion ;  and  now  Mechlenburg  gives 
shirts  and  pictures  for  Hermannsburg  to  send  to 
other  heathen  in  Africa." 

"What  sort  of  heathen  people  are  those  they  went 
to  ?  "  Esther  asked. 

"Quite  a  good  sort.  Here  is  a  description  of 
them,  written  by  one  of  the  brethren  who  sailed  in 
that  first  trip  of  the  '  Caiidace ' : 

"  '  I  cannot  make  it  out,  how  the  heathen  can  be 
as  they  are,  although  they  are  day  and  night  before 
my  eyes.  They  are  powerful,  muscular  men,  with 
open  faces  and  sparkling  eyes;  they  all  go  either 
quite  naked  or  with  a  very  slight  covering.  A  late 
law  obliges  them  however  to  put  a  shirt  on  when 
they  are  going  into  a  city.  They  live  in  houses 
which  resemble  beehives,  into  which  you  must 
creep.  The  whole  stock  of  valuables  which  you 
find  in  these  huts,  is  an  assaghai  (javelin),  a  club, 
a  mat,  a  bit  of  wood  for  a  pillow,  and  a  great  horn 
for  smoking.  I  have  seen  nothing  else  in  them. 
The  people  have  almost  no  wants.  So  many  wives 
as  a  man  has,  so  many  huts  has  he  also,  one  for 
each  wife,  and  then  one  besides  for  himself.  The 
women  are  bought ;  paid  for  with  cows  and  oxen ; 


124  PINE   NEEDLES 

ten  or  twenty  oxen  for  a  wife.  These  become  then 
the  man's  slaves,  and  the  man,  when  he  has  got  a 
good  many  wives,  hardly  does  any  more  work  him 
self.  The  women  must  cultivate  the  maize  and 
sweet  potatoes,  which  is  almost  all  the  people  live 
upon.  Once  in  a  while  they  kill  an  ox;  and  then 
so  many  come  together  to  eat  it  that  it  is  all  dis 
posed  of  at  one  meal.  Our  German  brethren  aver 
that  ten  Caffres  in  twenty-four  hours  will  eat  up  a 
whole  ox,  skin  and  entrails  and  all,  which  they 
roast  at  the  fire ;  that  afterwards,  however,  they  can 
go  fasting  four  days  at  hard  labour.  They  are  fond 
of  adorning  themselves  with  coral  and  rings,  and 
snuif-boxes  are  to  be  seen  in  the  hands  of  both  men 
and  women.  They  cork  up  the  snuff  in  their  nos 
trils  with  a  hollowed-out  bit  of  wood,  till  the  tears 
run  down  their  cheeks.  The  women  are  so  hardly 
used  that  a  mother  with  a  little  five-days-old  baby 
must  go  out  to  work  in  the  hot  sun,  with  the  baby 
on  her  back,  and  the  father  does  not  concern  him 
self  at  all  about  the  child.  Of  twins,  one  is  almost 
always  killed  at  once.  In  short,  they  are  not  much 
above  the  beasts  in  their  way  of  life ;  and  the  worst 
of  all  is,  they  are  almost  inaccessible  to  the  truth, 
and  laugh  at  everything  sacred.' " 


AND  OLD   YARNS.  125 


CHAPTEK   VIII. 

"Well,"  said  Maggie,  as  Meredith  paused,  "I 
should  think  somebody  ought  to  go  to  those 
people!" 

"  Hopeless  work,"  said  Flora,  stitching  away  at 
her  worsted. 

"No,  it  is  not  hopeless  work,"  answered  her 
brother.  "  As  you  would  soon  see,  if  all  the  churches 
had  the  matter  at  heart  like  Pastor  Harms  and  his 
Hermann  sburg. " 

"  Everybody  cannot  give  himself  up  to  such  busi 
ness,"  said  Flora  glancing  at  him. 

"  Everybody  ought." 

"  0  Ditto  !  "  cried  Maggie,  "  do  you  think  every 
body  ought  to  go  to  Africa  ?  " 

"Yes,"  said  Flora;  "that  is  just  about  what  he 
thinks." 

"  No,  Maggie,"  said  Meredith,  "  neither  to  Africa 
nor  to  other  heathen  parts;  not  everybody.  But 
everybody  can  give  himself  up  to  the  work  of  the 
kingdom,  even  if  he  stays  at  home.  Most  people 
must  stay  at  home." 


126  PINE   NEEDLES 

"  I  don't  understand,"  said  Maggie  with  a  shrug 
of  her  shoulders. 

"Don't  you  remember — '  Seek  ye  first  the  king 
dom  of  God ; ' — that's  all  I  mean." 

"  '  First ! ' "  Flora  echoed. 

"How  'first,' Ditto?" 

"  Before  everything  else.  The  words  mean  that, 
if  they  mean  anything." 

"  How  before  everything  else  ?  " 

"  See,  Maggie.     Suppose  you  and  I  have — " 

"  Now,  Ditto,  stop  !  "  said  his  sister.  "  I  do  not 
want  to  hear  any  of  that  stuff.  What  is  it  to 
Maggie  ?  And  Essie  and  I  do  not  care  about  it." 

"And  there  comes  Fenton,"  added  Esther,  spring 
ing  up  to  go  and  meet  him.  For  Fenton  it  was, 
bounding  up  the  bank  at  their  left. 

Fenton  was  grown  a  good  deal  since  our  last 
sight  of  him;  otherwise  not  much  changed.  A 
handsome  boy,  with  a  good  figure  and  a  bright  eye, 
and  also  the  old,  somewhat  supercilious  upper  lip. 
But  he  was  glad  to  get  home,  and  greeted  the 
party  cordially  enough.  Then,  however,  began  to 
criticise. 

"What  are  you  all  doing,  loafing  here?"  He 
had  sat  down  on  the  bank  with  the  rest,  and  looked 
from  one  to  another. 

"  We  do  not  use  your  elegant  expression,"  said 
Flora ;  "  partly  perhaps  because  we  are  not  wont  to 
indulge  ourselves  in  that  particular  amusement." 

"What  are  you  doing?" 

"  You  do  not  see  anything  to  engage  our  atten- 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  127 

tion,  in  what  at  present  offers  itself  to  yours,"  Mer 
edith  remarked. 

"  Nothing  offers  itself  to  my  attention,"  replied 
Fenton.  "I  don't  see  anything!  except  our  old  cart. 
Anything  to  eat  in  it  ?  " 

"There  is  no  pie  left,"  said  Esther,  "for  I  gave 
the  last  of  it  to  Fairbairn;  and  Flora  drank  up  all 
the  cream.  There's  some  sugar  in  the  sugar-bowl." 

Fenton  went  to  get  some  lumps  of  sugar,  and 
then  stood  looking  down  at  the  party : 

"Aren't  you  going  home  to  dinner ? "  said  he.  " I 
tell  you,  I'm  raging." 

"Four  o'clock,"  said  Meredith,  looking  at  his 
watch.  "Just  the  pretty  time  of  day  coming 
now." 

"  It'll  be  dinner-time,  by  the  time  you  get  the 
cart  home,  and  the  girls  get  dressed.  What  did 
you  come  out  here  so  far  for  ?  I  haven't  had  a  re 
spectable  dinner  for  six  months.  I  am  going  to 
have  some  wine  to-day,  if  the  governor  is  away." 

"  Governor !  "  cried  Esther.  "  What  a  vulgar  ex 
pression  !  For  Fenton  Candlish  to  use !  " 

"  Wine !  "  exclaimed  Maggie.  "  You  can't  have 
any  wine,  Fenton;  we  don't  drink  wine  any  more 
in  this  house." 

"  What's  the  matter !  " 

"  The  matter  is,  papa  has  emptied  his  wine  cel 
lar,"  said  Esther  in  a  rather  aggrieved  tone. 

"  Drunk  it  all  up  ?  " 

"  No,  no;  sent  it  off  and  sold  it." 

"  What  was  the  matter  with  it !  " 


128  PINE   NEEDLES 

"Why  I  tell  you,"  said  Esther;  "it  is  thought 
improper  for  good  people  to  drink  wine." 

Fenton's  face  was  rather  funny  to  see,  there  was 
such  a  blank  dismay  in  it. 

"And  did  mamma  give  in  to  that?" 

"  I  don't  know  what  mamma  thought,"  said  Es 
ther;  "but  papa  sold  the  wine;  and  our  dinner- 
'table  does  not  have  its  pretty  coloured  glasses  any 
more." 

Fen  ton  uttered  a  smothered  exclamation  which 
I  am  afraid  would  have  shocked  his  sisters. 

"  I  don't  see  what  you  want  with  wine,  Fenton  !" 
said  Maggie;  "papa  never  let  you  have  it." 

"Mamma  did  though,"  said  Fenton.  "That's  the 
good  of  having  two  parents.  If  one  is  crochetty 
perhaps  the  other  will  be  straight.  Well,  I'm  not 
going  to  live  if  I  can't  live  like  a  gentleman.  I 
shall  send  to  Forbes  to  send  me  some  wine." 

His  sisters  burst  out  into  horrified  exclamations 
and  expostulations. 

"  Papa'll  see  it  in  the  bill,"  said  Esther,  "  and 
he'll  be  very  angry." 

"Uncle  Eden  is  coming,"  said  Maggie,  "and  it 
will  be  no  use.  He'd  throw  it  into  the  river." 

"  Uncle  Eden  coming  ?  " 

The  girls  nodded. 

"If  I  had  known  that,  /wouldn't  have  come!" 
said  Fenton  looking  very  dark. 

"I'd  think  better  of  it  if  I  were  you,"  remarked 
Meredith  quietly.  "There  goes  more  to  the  making 
of  a  gentleman  than  the  drinking  of  wine." 


AND    OLD    YARNS.  129 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"Just  that.  As  for  instance — self-control,  noble 
thoughts,  care  for  others  above  himself,  indifference 
to  low  pleasures." 

"Low  pleasures!"  repeated  Fenton.  "Do  you 
call  wine  a  low  pleasure  ?  " 

"  Well — it  brings  people  into  the  gutter." 

"  Pshaw !  not  gentlemen." 

"  I  grant  you  they  are  not  gentlemen  after  they 
get  there." 

"What  do  you  know  about  it?"  said  the  boy  not 
very  politely.  "  Did  you  ever  drink  it  yourself?  " 

"  I  never  will  again.  A  gentleman  should  be  a 
free  man;  and  wine  makes  men  slaves.  I  don't 
choose  to  be  in  bondage.  And  if  it  would  not  en 
slave  me,  it  does  other  people;  and  I  would  not 
give  it  the  help  of  my  example." 

Fenton  dropped  the  subject,  but  renewed  his  pro 
posal  that  they  should  return  home.  So  shawls  and 
worsted  work  were  stored  in  the  cart,  and  the  lit 
tle  book  in  Meredith's  pocket;  and  the  line  of 
march  was  taken  up.  It  was  indeed  coming  now 
to  the  lovely  time  of  the  day.  Shadows  long,  lights 
glowing  in  warm  level  reflections,  all  objects  get 
ting  a  sunny  side  and  a  shade  side  and  standing 
forth  in  new  beauty  in  consequence;  the  day  gath 
ering  its  train,  as  it  were,  to  prepare  for  a  stately 
leave-taking  by  and  by.  Meredith  and  Maggie, 
loath  to  go,  lingered  the  last  of  the  party;  indeed 
he  had  the  cart  to  draw,  which  was  heavy,  and 
needed  careful  guiding  in  places  over  and  between 
9 


130  PINE   NEEDLES 

the  rocks;  and  he  could  not  run  on  with  the  heads 
of  the  party.  And  Maggie  walked  beside  him, 
and  put  her  little  hand  upon  the  handle  of  the  cart 
which  she  could  not  help  to  draw.  How  sweet  it 
was !  The  light  every  moment  growing  softer,  not 
cooler;  the  colours  more  contrasted,  as  the  shadows 
lengthened;  the  bugle  notes  coming  over  the  water 
now  and  then.  Meredith  looked,  and  drew  deep 
breaths  of  the  delicious  air;  but  Maggie  walked 
along  pondering. 

"Ditto,"  she  began,  "do  you  think  everybody 
ought  to  do  mission  work  ?  " 

"  The  dear  Lord  did  not  give  the  charge  to  some 
of  his  people,  did  he  ?  " 

"But  how  can  they  do  it?  Everybody  cannot 
go  to  the  heathen  ?  " 

"  He  said,  '  in  all  the  world ' — so  that  means  at 
home  as  well  as  abroad,  doesn't  it?" 

"  Preach  the  Gospel  in  all  the  world  ?  " 

"  Yes." 

"  How  can  7,  Ditto  ?  " 

"  You  and  I,  let  us  say.  Well,  Maggie,  suppose 
we  ask  Mr.  Murray?  But  one  thing  is  certain; 
those  who  stay  at  home  must  furnish  the  money  for 
those  that  go." 

"  Does  it  take  a  great  deal?  " 

"  Not  to  send  a  few.  But  how  long  would  &feio 
people  be,  about  telling  the  Gospel  to  all  the  world  ? 
Suppose  one  man  had  as  much  as  the  whole  state 
of  New  York,  for  his  parish  ?  " 

"  He'd  never  get  through." 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  131 

"  Exactly.  And  so  it  is  nearly  nineteen  hundred 
years  since  the  Lord  gave  the  command;  and  the 
heathen  world  is  the  heathen  world  still — pretty 
much." 

"  But  then,  Ditto — to  send  a  great  many  people, 
it  would  want  a  great  deal  of  money?" 

"  It  does.     What  then  ?  " 

"Maybe  people  cannot  afford  it." 

"  Let  us  ask  Mr.  Murray  about  that." 

"  But  Ditto,  what  do  you  think  ?  I  know  you 
think  something." 

"  Maggie,  I  think  we  should  seek  first  the  king 
dom." 

They  were  turning  into  the  shrubbery  grounds 
near  the  house,  and  Maggie  left  the  discussion. 
They  were  all  ready  for  dinner,  as  far  as  appetite 
went,  and  in  a  little  while  the  five  young  people 
sat  down  at  the  board. 

"  This  is  jolly,"  said  Fenton,  who  took  the  head 
of  the  table. 

"  Roast-beef,  to  wit  ?  "  said  Meredith. 

"Roast-beef  is  a  good  thing,  if  you  are  hungry 
as  I  am;  but  I  did  not  mean  that.  It  is  uncom 
monly  jolly  to  be  out  of  the  way  of  the  governors." 

Maggie  looked  up  astonished. 

" '  Rulers  are  not  a  terror  to  good  works,' "  said 
Meredith. 

"  They're  a  nuisance,  though." 

"  Only  to  one  portion  of  society.  I  hope  you  do 
not  class  yourself  with  them." 

"  Do  you  mean,"  said  Maggie,  making  big  eyes, 


132  PINE   NEEDLES 

"do  you  mean,  Fen  ton,  that  you  are  glad  papa  and 
mamma  are  in  California  ?  " 

"No.  Only  one  of 'em.  Mamma  never  interferes 
with  me." 

"  She  leaves  it  to  papa  to  do,"  said  Maggie,  with 
dignity  and  sageness. 

"I  am  glad  she  does.  Shews  her  wisdom.  I 
can  tell  what  is  good  for  me,  as  well  as  anybody 
else." 

"Always  do  it,  I  suppose?" 

"  That's  just  my  affair,"  said  Fenton.  "  There  is 
no  use  in  putting  chains  round  a  fellow — all  the 
good  of  it  is,  he  must  just  break  the  chains." 

"  Do  you  call  papa's  commands,  chains  ? "  said 
Maggie. 

"  Don't  stare,  Maggie ;  nothing  is  so  vulgar." 

"  I  am  glad  Uncle  Eden  is  coming,  to  make  you 
behave  yourself." 

"  If  he  tries  it  on,  I  shall  bolt,"  said  Fenton.  "  I 
am  out  for  some  fun ;  and  if  I  can't  get  it  at  home 
I'll  get  it  somewhere  else." 

Meredith  succeeded  in  'turning  the  conversation 
to  a  pleasanter  subject;  nevertheless  Fenton's  de 
liverances  shocked  his  little  sister  several  times  in 
the  course  of  the  dinner.  Among  other  things, 
Fenton  would  go  down  to  the  wine-cellar,  to  see 
if  a  bottle  or  two  might  not  by  chance  have  been 
left;  and  though  the  key  was  not  to  be  had  and  he 
came  back  discomfited,  Maggie  could  not  get  over 
the  audacity  of  his  proposition.  She  was  further 
and  exceedingly  shocked  after  dinner  when  Fen- 


AND   OLD  YARNS.  133 

ton  proposed  to  Meredith  to  have  a  cigar.  Mere 
dith  declining,  Fenton  went  out  to  enjoy  his  cigar 
alone. 

"  Fenton  is  grown  very  wild !  "  said  Maggie. 

"Boys  can't  be  like  girls,"  said  Esther. 

"  I  don't  see  why  they  can't  be  as  respectable  as 
girls,"  said  Maggie. 

"  They  never  are,  my  dear,"  said  Flora.  "  Com 
fort  yourself.  They  will  run  into  what  they  don't 
like  just  to  have  their  own  way;  because  what 
they  do  like  is  ordered  or  advised  by  some  kind 
friend." 

"Not  true  without  exception,  Maggie,"  said  Mer 
edith  ;  "  but  there  is  some  truth  in  it.  Don't  worry 
about  Fenton.  I  don't  believe  he  means  quite  as 
bad  as  he  says." 

"  But  smoking  is  so  disgraceful — in  a  boy,"  said 
Maggie. 

"  It  is  not  disgraceful  in  a  man,"  said  Esther. 

"Well,  it  isn't  nice,"  returned  Maggie.  "I  al 
ways  hate  to  come  near  that  Prof.  Wilkins  who 
always  talks  to  me  when  he  is  here.  He  is  kind, 
but  his  breath  is  dreadful." 

Fenton  was  not  so  fond  of  the  company  of  his 
cigar  but  that  he  soon  forsook  it.  And  then  his 
company  indoors  was  hardly  an  acquisition.  He 
talked  big  of  doings  at  the  school  where  he  was 
now  placed;  horrified  Maggie  by  shewing  that  he 
was  quite  as  lawless  as  in  old  times,  and  put  an 
effectual  bar  to  any  reading  or  talk  either  except 
of  the  sort  that  suited  himself. 


134  PINE   NEEDLES 

"What's  up?"  lie  asked  at  last.  "What  shall 
we  do  to  make  the  time  go  ?  " 

"Time  does  not  need  any  whip  with  us,"  said 
Meredith.  "  He  goes  fast  enough." 

"  0  we  are  going  out  in  the  woods  to  dinner," 
said  Maggie. 

"  You  were  there  to-day." 

"  Well,  we  are  going  to-morrow — and  every  day. 
We  have  a  bonfire,  and  a  nice  lunch,  and  the  girls 
work,  and  Ditto  reads  to  us." 

"  Jolly  slow,"  said  Fenton.  "  I  can't  stand  much 
of  that.  I  shall  go  a-fishing." 

"  Very  well,"  said  Esther.  "  And  come  to  us  for 
lunch?" 

"  Same  place  ?     It's  too  far  off." 

"  Then  we'll  go  into  the  pine  wood,"  said  Mag 
gie.  "The  pine  wood  is  nice — and  the  pine  needles 
make  a  beautiful  carpet — and  we  want  to  go  to  a 
different  place  every  day." 

So  it  was  arranged. 


AND  OLD   YARNS.  135 


CHAPTER    IX. 

The  same  sweet  weather  continued  again  the 
next  day ;  the  air  was  even  warmer  still,  the  leaves 
of  oaks  and  maples,  turning  more  and  more,  were 
growing  browner  and  ruddier  and  the  glow  on  the 
hills  more  deep.  The  pine  wood,  however,  which 
lay  behind,  that  is  north  of  the  house,  at  no  great 
distance,  was  uriinvaded  by  this  autumn  glow. 
The  soft,  blue  gleam  of  the  pines  alone  stood 
against  the  heaven's  mild  blue  overhead,  and  pine 
needles,  brown  and  thick,  carpeted  the  ground 
everywhere  between  the  rocks.  For  rocks  were 
almost  everywhere  at  Mosswood.  Only  on  the 
skirts  of  the  wood  one  might  see  a  flaming  ma 
ple  branch,  or  a  golden  cloud  of  hickory  here  and 
there,  and  here  and  there  a  cat-briar  vine  taking 
a  tawny  hue,  or  some  low-growing  cornus,  putting 
on  lovely  tints  of  madder  at  the  edges  of  its  leaves. 
Through  the  wood  the  little  party  wandered,  not 
knowing  where  to  choose  to  stop,  and  Meredith  pa 
tiently  drew  the  cart  along  waiting  for  orders.  At 
last,  on  a  little  rising  ground  they  found  an  open 
space,  yet  shadowed  enough,  from  which  there  was 


136  PINE   NEEDLES 

a  lookout  to  the  house  in  the  valley;  truly  no  more 
than  the  chimneys  could  be  seen ;  and  a  wider  space 
of  blue  sky,  and  the  hills  toward  the  south.  This 
would  do.  Here  were  pine  needles  enough  for  a 
carpet,  and  a  felled  pine  log  gave  a  convenient  seat 
to  those  who  liked  it.  For  Meredith  and  Maggie 
preferred  the  ground  and  the  pine  needles.  The 
cart  was  drawn  up  under  the  shade  of  a  tree  ; 
afghan  and  worsted  embroidery  were  taken  out; 
shawls  were  spread;  and  the  party  settled  them 
selves  for  a  morning  of  comfort. 

"  This  is  good !  "  said  Meredith,  delaying  to  open 
his  book. 

"  How  perfectly  delicious  this  warm  smell  of  the 
pines  is,"  said  Flora. 

"  You  use  strong  language,  Flo,  but  for  once  not 
exaggerated.  We  have  not  got  the  sound  of  the 
wood-chopper's  axe  to-day." 

"  I'll  tell  you  what  you  may  hear,  though,  if  you 
listen,"  said  Esther,  "the  woodpecker — 

"'The  woodpecker  tapping  the  hollow  beech  tree,' 

only  there  are  no  beech  trees  on  the  place.  You 
may  hear  him  on  an  oak,  though." 

"  This  hazy  light  under  the  pines — through  the 
pines — is  bewitching.  0  October!  0  Mosswood!" 
Meredith  exclaimed.  "  What  is  so  pretty  as  these 
autumn  woods  ?  " 

"  What  are  you  going  to  read  us  to-day  ?  "  said 
his  sister.  "  Don't  get  poetical." 

"I  will  read  you  one  or  two  little  bits  first,  which 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  137 

touch  something  Maggie  and  I  were  talking  of  yes 
terday.  We  do  not  want  a  bonfire  to-day ;  it's  too 
warm." 

"  No ;  we  will  make  just  a  tiny  little  blaze  by  and 
by,  to  boil  our  kettle.  It  would  be  too  warm  for  a 
bonfire.  And  there  are  no  trees  here  to  be  cut." 

"  I  should  think  not ! "  said  Meredith,  looking 
up  at  the  blue-green  pine  needles  over  his  head. 
"  Well — here's  a  story  for  you." 

"  Heathen  ?  "  asked  Flora. 

"No,  Christian.  'There  was  a  man,  once  upon 
a  time,  whom  God  had  richly  blessed.  He  had  re 
ceived  a  year's  income  of  seven  hundred  thalers. 
Four  hundred  of  them  he  needed  and  used  for  his 
house  and  family  wants,  and  three  hundred  were 
left  over.  So  he  thought  at  first  he  would  put  the 
money  out  at  interest,  and  enjoy  the  comfort  of  re 
ceiving  rents  which  were  growing  while  he  was 
sleeping.  As  he  was  just  setting  about  this,  he 
read  in  a  mission  paper  about  the  wants  of  the 
heathen ;  and  the  Sunday  next  following  he  heard 
a  preaching  about  how  the  dear  Lord  is  the  safest 
of  all  to  trust  money  to,  and  gives  the  best  interest. 
So  he  made  a  short  piece  of  work  of  it,  and  sent 
his  three  hundred  thalers  to  the  dear  Lord  for  the 
conversion  of  the  heathen,  and  said,  "  Lord,  take 
thou  them ;  I  got  them  from  thee,  and  there  is  all 
this  left."  "  Wife,"  said  he,  when  he  came  home  at 
evening,  "  I  have  done  a  good  bit  of  business  to-day ; 
I  have  got  rid  of  my  three  hundred  thalers,  and 
am  quit  of  any  care  of  the  money,  over  and  above." 


138  PINE   NEEDLES 

"Then  you  may  thank  the  dear  Lord  for  that,"  said 
his  wife.  "And  so  I  do,"  lie  answered. 

"'Do  I  not  hear  at  this  point,  not  merely  many 
a  child  of  the  world  but  also  many  a  believer,  se 
cretly  half  saying,  "No,  but  what  is  out  of  reason 
is  out  of  reason ! " — and  so  do  I  see  a  certain  compas 
sionate  smile  playing  about  mouth-corners.  But 
wait  a  bit;  there  is  something  coming  that  is  more 
crazy  yet.  The  next  year  the  man  was  overloaded 
with  such  a  blessing,  that  instead  of  seven  hundred 
thalers  he  made  fourteen  hundred  thalers,  and  he 
did  not  know  where  it  all  came  from.  Then  what 
does  he  do  but  take  the  surplus,  one  thousand  tha 
lers,  and  send  it  to  the  mission.  Is  the  story  true  ? 
do  you  say.  You  can  ask  the  Lord  "  in  that  day  " ; 
he  knows  the  story.'" 

"  I  like  that,"  said  Maggie. 

"Why?"  Flora  asked. 

"  I  think  it  is  nice,"  said  Maggie  with  a  shrug  of 
her  shoulders. 

"  I  don't  see  it.  What  good  to  the  man  to  have 
twice  as  much  as  he  had  before,  if  he  must  give  it 
all  right  away  again  ?  " 

"  Why  he  has  the  pleasure  of  giving  it ! "  cried 
Maggie. 

"And  it  shews  at  any  rate  that  he  did  not  get 
poor  by  his  first  venture,"  said  Meredith.  "And 
the  Lord  will  reckon  it  *  at  that  day '  as  all  done  for 
him." 

"  I  don't  think  people  are  obliged  to  give  away 
all  they  have  got,"  said  Flora. 


AND    OLD    YARNS.  139 

"  Suppose  they  do  not  reckon  anything  they  have 
their  own  ?  The  Christians  in  the  early  times  did 
not,  if  the  Lord's  work  or  the  needs  of  others 
wanted  it  more." 

"  Extravagance ! "  said  Flora.    "Just  enthusiasm." 

"  Come,  I  will  read  you  another  story.     But  the 

poor  woman  who  gave  all  she  had  into  the  Lord's 

treasury,  was  not  rated  as  a  fool  by  him.     I  will 

read  you  now — 

"*A   PROBLEM   ABOUT    STUTEN   MONEY. 

"  *  Most  of  you  know,  it  is  true,  right  well  what 
stuten  money  is,  but  certainly  all  do  not.  Among 
us,  when  people  go  to  church  on  Sunday,  the  chil 
dren  and  younger  serving  people  of  the  peasants 
get  a  groschen  to  take  along;  with  which  they  can 
buy  a  stuten,  that  is,  a  white  roll,  at  noon  when 
they  come  out  of  church;  by  the  help  of  which 
they  can  stay  in  the  village  and  so  go  to  church 
again  in  the  afternoon.  Now  there  are  a  boy,  a 
girl,  and  an  old  woman  known  to  me,  who  have  no 
other  money  but  the  stuten  money  they  get  on 
Sundays.  So  each  one  of  them  falls  to  considering 
how  he  or  she  can  do  something  for  the  heathen. 
And  they  arrange  it  on  this  wise.  One  of  them 
every  other  Sunday  eats  no  roll,  and  thinks  within 
herself,  "I  eat  as  much  as  I  wanted  this  morning  at 
home,  and  I  can  do  the  same  again  this  evening." 
The  two  others  buy  each  a  small  roll  for  half  a 
groschen,  and  lay  up  the  other  half  groschen  every 
Sunday;  and  when  the  year  comes  round,  they 


140  PINE   NEEDLES 

have  all  three  of  them,  counting  the  festivals, 
thirty  groschen  saved  up,  and  bring  them  with 
glad,  smiling  faces  to  go  for  the  conversion  of 
the  heathen.  And  upon  being  afterwards  asked 
whether  hunger  did  not  often  trouble  them  on 
Sunday?  they  say,  they  have  always  felt  as  if 
they  had  had  enough ;  and  with  God's  help,  they 
will  do  the  same  way  next  year.'" 

"  What  sort  of  a  story  do  you  call  that  ?  "  asked 
Flora,  when  her  brother  paused. 

"  I  call  it,  a  story  of  what  can  be  done." 

"  And  I  call  it,  a  story  of  what  ought  not  to  be 
done.  Both  the  children  and  the  old  women  needed 
their  bread  for  themselves ;  it  was  not  good  for  them 
to  go  without  it.  And  what  is  a  groschen  ?  or  thirty 
groschen  ?' 

"What  are  'two  mites,  which  make  a  farthing?'" 

"  0  that  is  in  the  Bible." 

"But  it  was  in  a  poor  woman's  heart  first;  or  we 
should  never  have  had  it  in  the  Bible." 

"  Well,  look  at  our  luncheon,"  said  Flora. 

"  I  will  look  at  it,  when  I  see  it.     What  then  ?  " 

"  Do  you  mean  that  we  shall  do  wrong  to  eat  it? " 

"Not  at  all." 

"How  can  those  people  be  right,  and  we  not 
wrong  ?  " 

"Yes,  Ditto,"  said  Maggie.  "I  do  not  under 
stand." 

"  Those  people  must  give  their  groschen,  or  give 
nothing.  It  was  all  they  could  give." 

"But  we  might  give  more  than  we  do,  if  we 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  141 

would  live  on  bread  and  water,"  said  Flora.  "If 
we  are  to  give  all  we  could  give.  Our  luncheon 
would  come  to  a  good  many  groschen,  I  can  tell 
you." 

"We  must  ask  Mr.  Murray.  I  am  not  wise 
enough  to  talk  to  you,"  said  Meredith.  "I  hope 
he  will  come !  we  are  getting  work  ready  for  him. 
Meantime  I  will  read  you  another  little  story. 
Maybe  we  shall  find  some  light. 

"'AS  POOR,  YET  MAKING  MANY  RICH. 

" '  There  was  a  poor  day-labourer  who  lived  by 
his  work,  from  hand  to  mouth.  He  heard  it  read 
out  of  the  Old  Testament,  that  under  the  old  cove 
nant  every  Israelite  was  bound  to  give  to  God  the 
tenth  of  all  his  incomings.  That  went  through  and 
through  the  man's  head,  and  he  thought :  Could  the 
Israelites  do  that  by  the  law,  and  should  not  we 
Christians  be  able  to  do  it  by  the  love  of  Christ  ? 
So,  honestly  and  faithfully,  he  lays  by  the  tenth 
of  his  daily  wages;  the  Lord  blesses  him,  so  that 
many  a  time  he  earns  sixteen  groschen  a  day ;  and 
at  the  end  of  the  year  he  comes  with  his  hands 
full,  bringing  sixteen  thaler  twenty  groschen  for 
the  conversion  of  the  heathen,  and  with  hearty 
pleasure;  and  he  says,  "The  love  of  Christ  con- 
straineth  me  so,  I  have  wanted  for  nothing."'" 

"Not  much  of  a  story,"  said  Meredith,  in  con 
cluding,  "  but  a  good  deal  of  a  suggestion." 

"  Suggestion  of  what  ?  "  asked  his  sister. 

"  Duty.     Certainly,  a  Christian  ought  to  be  able 


142  PINE   NEEDLES 

to  do  more  for  love  than  an  old  Hebrew  did  for 
law;  and  from  this  time  I  will  imitate  that  old 
German  fellow." 

"But,  Ditto  !  "  exclaimed  his  sister.  "A  tenth  of 
your  income,  you  must  remember,  is  a  great  deal." 

"  Not  in  proportion — "  said  Meredith.  "  He  would 
want  every  one  of  his  remaining  groschen  for  his 
necessities;  I  should  not.  It  seems  to  me,  the 
richer  one  is,  the  larger  the  proportion  should  be 
that  should  go  to  the  Lord's  uses." 

"  I  shall  ask  Mr.  Murray  to  make  you  reason 
able  ! "  Flora  exclaimed.  "  Stop  talking,  and  go 
on  with  your  reading." 

"  The  next  story  is  about  '  One  Groschen  and 
Two  Pennies.' 

'"It  is  true,  what  the  Bible  says — "The  Lord 
maketh  sore,  and  bindeth  up;  he  woundeth,  and 
his  hands  make  whole."  My  heart  learned  the 
meaning  of  this  word,  when  a  short  time  ago  I 
had  to  expel  two  pupils  from  the  Mission  house, 
who  had  been  led  astray  by  Satan.  This  gave  me 
great  pain,  but  it  had  to  be  done,  for  their  sakes 
and  for  the  sake  of  the  house;  and  it  was  some 
what  alleviated  in  that  they  came  back  sorry  and 
penitent  and  were  taken  in  again. 

"  *  To  the  honour  of  the  Lord  I  will  here  speak 
good  of  the  balm  which  shortly  after  my  great 
hurt  he  laid  upon  the  wounds.  May  it  have  some 
what  of  the  sweetness  of  that  ointment  which  filled 
the  whole  house. 

" '  Soon  after  the  departure  of  the  pupils  was 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  143 

made  known,  I  had  a  visit  from  an  eight-year-old 
boy.  He  had  a  groschen.  in  his  hand  and  a  read 
ing-book  under  his  arm.  He  told  me  that  he  had 
found  this  groschen  fourteen  days  before  on  the 
way  to  church,  that  he  had  asked  his  father  to  pub 
lish  the  discovery  and  he  himself  had  announced  it 
in  school.  But  nobody  had  been  found  to  own 
the  groschen.  I  said  to  him :  "  Well,  what  do  you 
think,  my  child  ?  does  the  groschen  belong  to  you  ? 
will  you  buy  something  with  it  ? "  The  boy  an 
swered  "  No,  the  groschen  is  not  mine,  so  I  am  not 
going  to  keep  it.  I  will  give  it  to  the  dear  Saviour 
for  the  poor  heathen  children,  to  get  a  spelling- 
book  for  them."  When  I  questioned  him  further, 
he  said  that  once  in  the  church,  where  his  father 
takes  him  every  Sunday,  I  had  said,  "whoever 
keeps  what  does  not  belong  to  him  is  a  thief;  and  " 
— he  added  with  great  seriousness,  "you  said,  a 
Christian  child  must  not  be  a  thief!"  I  received 
the  groschen  now  and  thanked  him.  But  the  boy 
had  not  done  yet.  He  asked  me  if  it  were  true, 
that  two  of  the  pupils  had  been  expelled  from  the 
mission  house  ?  When  with  a  sorrowful  face  I  as 
sented,  he  answered,  "  You  need  not  be  so  troubled 
about  that.  You  can  send  me  instead.  I  can  spell 
already,  and  I  will  soon  learn  to  read."  When  the 
little  fellow  with  great  earnestness  had  said  that,  I 
could  not  help  folding  him  to  my  breast  in  heart 
felt  gladness.  Then  I  knelt  down  and  together 
with  him  prayed  that  the  Lord  would  some  time 
make  a  true  missionary  of  him.  He  went  away  at 


144  PINE   NEEDLES 

last,  but  could  not  at  first  rightly  understand  how 
it  was  that  I  had  as  yet  no  use  for  him. 

'"Soon  after  this,  I  received  a  letter  from  a  dear 
friend  who  had  been  making  a  lively  stir  in  the 
matter  of  the  mission  among  his  school  and  the 
parish  to  which  his  school  belonged.  The  Lord 
had  granted  him  access  to  the  hearts  of  great  and 
small,  and  with  cordial  pleasure  he  had  been  col 
lecting  till  he  should  have  a  full  thaler  made  up, 
which  then  should  be  sent  me.  Now  he  wrote, 
the  thaler  was  made  up,  and  he  sent  it,  and  this 
was  how  it  had  come  about.  In  a  hospital,  where 
he  is  accustomed  to  hold  devotional  service  for  an 
hour,  he  had  mentioned  the  conversion  of  the  hea 
then.  The  next  day  came  a  widow,  shoved  four 
groschen  under  one  of  the  books  which  lay  on  the 
table,  and  then,  with  a  greeting  from  her  children, 
laid  two  groschen  on  the  table,  saying:  "Now  the 
thaler  will  be  made  up !  "  To  this  mission  thaler, 
which  indeed  was  made  up  now,  a  little  girl  of 
nine  years  old  had  every  Sunday  contributed  two 
pennies,  which  she  received  from  her  mother  to  buy 
rolls  with.  Some  time  after,  the  mother  brought 
the  child's  two  pennies  again,  silently ;  but  it  struck 
our  friend  that  she  had  great  tears  in  her  eyes. 
The  thing  was  soon  explained.  The  child  had  fall 
en  ill.  Sunday  her  mother  said  to  her,  "To-day 
you  shall  keep  your  roll  for  yourself."  "  No,"  the 
child  answered,  "  I  could  not  be  easy  if  I  did.  I 
promised  my  dear  Saviour  once,  that  as  long  as 
you  gave  me  two  pennies  to  buy  rolls  with,  I 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  145 

would  give  the  money  on  Sunday  for  the  heathen." 
How  glad  that  true  mother's  heart  must  have  been. 
She  had  reason  to  say,  "But  what  a  value  these 
two  pennies  had  for  me  !  I  could  not  let  them  out 
of  my  hands  at  first,  for  joy."  God  bless  mother, 
child,  and  teacher !  The  mission  must  indeed  thrive 
when  such  gifts  are  offered.  From  another  dear 
friend  of  missions,  personally  unknown  to  me  more 
over,  I  received  a  contribution  for  the  mission,  in 
the  making  up  of  which  both  men  and  beasts  had 
given  their  help.  The  contributors  were  specially 
mentioned,  the  men  at  their  head ;  then  'at  the  con 
clusion  followed,  "A  hen,  so  much  and  so  much." 

"Well,  Ditto,"  said  Flora,  "I  will  say,  you  do 
read  the  most  extraordinary  stories  ?  " 

"Like  them?" 

"No,  I  don't  think  I  do,  much.  Do  you  bring 
them  forward  as  our  examples,  hen  and  all  ?  " 

"  You  might  do  worse." 

"  But,  Ditto,"  Maggie  said  anxiously,  "you  do  not 
think  we  ought  to  go  without  what  we  want,  do 
you?  for  the  sake  of  the  heathen." 

"Ask  Mr.  Murray  that  question,  Maggie.  Whose 
hat  is  that  I  see  over  the  wall,  coming  up  to  the 
gate?" 

Maggie  jumped  up  to  look,  and  then  with  a 
scream  of  "  Uncle  Eden !  Uncle  Eden ! "  sprang 
away  down  the  path  to  meet  him.  The  others 
dropped  book  and  work  and  followed  her.  The 
pine  wood  was  screened  off  from  the  shrubbery 
and  pleasure  grounds  (but  indeed  all  Mosswood 
10 


146  PINE   NEEDLES 

pretty  much  was  pleasure  grounds)  by  a  low  stone 
wall,  in  which  wall  a  little  gate  admitted  to  the 
entrance  of  the  wood.  By  the  time  Mr.  Murray, 
skirting  the  wall,  had  come  to  that  point,  the  group 
of  young  people  had  reached  it  also;  and  there 
Mr.  Murray  received  a  welcome  that  might  have 
satisfied  any  man.  Maggie  threw  herself  on  his 
neck  with  cries  of  delight ;  Flora's  bright,  handsome 
face  sparkled  with  undisguised  pleasure;  even  Es 
ther  looked  glad,  and  Meredith's  wringing  grasp  of 
the  hand  was  as  expressive  as  anything  else.  Sur 
rounded  by  them,  almost  hemmed  in  his  steps,  ques 
tioned  and  answered  and  welcomed,  all  in  a  breath, 
by  the  gay  little  group,  Mr.  Murray  slowly  made  his 
progress  along  the  pine  walk  towards  the,  present 
camping  place.  He  had  got  the  round-robin,  yes, 
and  he  had  obeyed  their  summons  as  soon  as  he 
could  after  clearing  away  a  few  impediments  of 
business;  he  had  made  an  early  start  and  come  all 
the  way  that  morning  from  Bay  House;  and  he 
was  very  glad  to  be  with  them.  Now  what  were 
they  going  to  do  with  him  ? 

Saying  which  last,  Mr.  Murray  stretched  himself 
on  the  soft  carpet  of  pine  needles  and  surveyed  the 
tokens  of  work  and  play  around  the  spot. 

"  From  Bay  House  this  morning !  And  no  lunch 
yet  ? — That's  good !  "  cried  Maggie.  "  Now,  dear 
Ditto,  the  first  thing  is  to  give  him  something  to 
eat.  He  must  be  ravenous.  If  you'll  build  a  fire 
place,  I'll  make  the  fire ;  and  then  we  can  have  the 
kettle  boiled  in  a  very  little  time. — " 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  147 

Mr.  Murray  lay  on  his  elbow  on  the  pine  needles 
and  watched  them,  as  Meredith  built  a  few  stones 
together  to  support  the  tea-kettle,  and  then  he  and 
Maggie  ran  about  collecting  bits  of  pine  and  pine 
cones  and  fuel  generally.  And  then  there  was  the 
careful  laying  of  dry  tinder  together,  and  the  match 
applied,  and  the  blue,  hospitable  smoke  began  to 
curl  up  under  and  round  the  kettle,  and  an  aro 
matic,  odoriferous  smell  came  floating  in  the  air. 

"This  is  better  than  anything  I  have  seen  for 
some  time,  children,"  he  said. 

"Ah  wait ! "  cried  Maggie.  "We  have  got  stewed 
pigeons  for  lunch." 

Mr.  Murray  laughed.  "  What  are  you  all  doing 
out  here,  besides  eating  pigeons  V  " 

"  We  have  set  out  with  the  determination  to  live 
out  of  doors,"  said  Flora;  "and  so  we  do  it.  This 
is  the  third  day;  and  it  is  absolutely  delightful." 

"  What  are  you  doing  ?  " 

"  I  see  you  looking  at  our  worsteds — aren't  they 
pretty  colours,  Mr.  Murray?  Esther  and  I  play 
with  these,  while  Ditto  reads  to  us.  And  we  have 
laid  up  a  great  deal  of  work  for  you." 

"  In  what  shape,  pray  ?  " 

"  Questions.  Somehow,  as  we  read,  we  get  up 
difficult  questions,  that  nobody  can  answer,  and 
that  we  are  not  all  agreed  upon ;  and  then  by  gen 
eral  consent  we  refer  them  to  you." 

Mr.  Murray  watched  the  tiny  tongues  of  flame 
which  were  darting  up  round  the  tea-kettle,  where 
Maggie  sat  supplying  small  sticks  and  resinous 


148  PINE    NEEDLES 

pine  cones  to  feed  the  fire.  The  scene  was  as  pret 
ty  as  possible ;  Meredith  roaming  hither  and  thith 
er  collecting  more  fuel,  and  the  shawls  and  even 
the  worsted  lying  about,  with  the  gay,  young  fig 
ures,  touching  up  the  gipsey  view  with  bits  of  col 
our.  He  watched  in  silence. 

"Moos wood  is  the  most  delicious  place  we  have 
ever  seen,"  Flora  went  on. 

"Almost  any  place  is  good  in  October.  How 
pleasant  this  veiled  light  is.  What  are  you  about, 
Maggie  ?  " 

^  "This  is  the  pot  of  pigeons,  Uncle  Eden;  we  are 
going  to  get  them  hot.  The  kettle  boils  ;  now 
would  you  like  some  coffee,  Uncle  Eden?" 

But  Mr.  Murray  declared  himself  satisfied  with 
tea.  And  in  a  little  while  the  scene  became  more 
gipsey  than  ever;  except  that  gipseys  are  not  sup 
posed  to  indulge  in  much  refinement  of  china  cups 
and  silver  spoons.  Everybody  was  picking  pigeon 
bones,  however;  and  bread  and  butter,  and  cups 
of  tea,  and  baked  potatoes  (which  came  out  hot 
from  the  house,  brought  in  a  basket  by  Fairbairn), 
and  peaches  and  pears  to  conclude  with,  were  dis 
cussed  with  great  enjoyment  and  amidst  a  great 
deal  of  talk.  Fenton  arrived  from  the  fishing  to 
take  his  share ;  but  I  do  not  think  he  was  as  glad 
to  see  his  uncle  as  the  others  had  been;  and  as 
soon  as  lunch  was  over  he  took  himself  away  again. 
Then  cups  and  plates  and  debris  were  packed  away 
into  the  cart;  the  little  fire  had  burnt  itself  out; 
fingers  were  washed  in  Eastern  fashion,  somebody 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  149 

pouring  water  over  the  others'  hands;  and  at  last 
worsted  needles  and  knitting  needles  came  into 
play  again,  and  the  circle  was  made  up  around  Mr. 
Murray,  who  declared  himself  to  be  quite  refreshed 
and  rested. 

"  Ready  for  questions,  Uncle  Eden?  " 

"  Are  the  questions  very  deep  ?  " 

"0  yes,  Uncle  Eden;  none  of  us  can  answer 
them." 

44  They  had  need  to  be  profound !  How  did  they 
come  up  ?  " 

"From  Meredith's  book.  Ditto  was  reading  to 
us  some  delicious  stories  about  the  old  Saxons,  ftnd 
their  ways  and  their  gods;  and  we  have  ever  so 
many  questions  to  ask  you,  Uncle  Eden." 

44  Have  you  any  more  of  those  Saxon  stories  on 
hand,  Meredith?" 

44  Plenty,  sir." 

44  Then  I  wish  you  would  go  on  and  read  another; 
and  so  I  should  perhaps  get  into  the  atmosphere 
of  your  questions.  Besides,  I  feel  like  being  lux 
urious  and  lazy  in  this  warm,  spicy  air.  Suppose 
we  have  a  story  now,  and  the  questions  by  and  by  ?  " 

They  were  all  agreed  to  that.  Maggie  settled 
herself  to  listen  comfortably,  and  Mr.  Murray  lay 
on  his  elbow  and  looked  thoughtfully  into  the 
readers  face,  or  into  the  blue-green  pine  wilder 
ness  around,  or  above  to  the  quiet,  clear  blue  which 
stretched  over  all;  but  if  Mr.  Murray's  body  was 
resting,  I  am  inclined  to  think  his  mind  was  busy 
enough. 


150  PINE  NEEDLES 


CHAPTER   X. 

"  *  The  story  that  I  am  going  to  tell  you  now 
shall  bear  the  heading,  "The  Hearts  of  the  Chil 
dren  turned  to  the  Fathers."  I  read  it  with  a  deal 
of  trouble,  in  an  old,  yellowed  manuscript  which 
the  mice  had  gnawed  at.  But  it  bears  so  entirely 
the  impress  of  truth  that  it  may  speak  for  itself, 
although  the  things  happened  more  than  a  thou 
sand  years  ago.  I  would  rather,  if  I  could,  give  it 
again  exactly  as  it  stood  written  in  that  manu 
script;  but  I  am  unable  to  do  so,  because  I  only 
made  extracts  from  it.  I  found  the  MS.  in  the 
library  of  the  Town  House  at  Luneburg,  where  I 
was  staying  for  a  few  days  just  then,  and  with  the 
permission  of  both  the  burgermasters  of  the  city,  I 
searched  the  Town  House  library  through.  When 
later  I  came  to  live  in  Luneburg  for  many  years, 
these  and  other  old  MSS.  were  no  longer  to  be 
found ;  and  I  heard  that  a  Jew,  to  whom  the  bur 
germasters  had  sold  a  number  of  old  suits  of  ar 
mour  and  weapons,  had  probably  demanded  to  have 
these  manuscripts  into  the  bargain,  thinking  that  he 
might  in  England  dispose  of  them  for  a  high  price. 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  151 

The  MS.  was  entitled:  "Res  gestae  Landolfi,  Apos- 
toli  Salzonum,  qui  Horzge  ripas  ad  habitant ;"  i.  e., 
"Acts  of  Landolf,  the  apostle  to  the  Saxons  who  lived 
on  tJie  Oerze."  I  have  told  you  already  many  things 
about  this  Landolf.  It  has  been  mentioned  that  he 
built  the  first  wooden  church  in  this  whole  region 
of  country,  there  where  the  heathen  god  Woden's 
place  of  sacrifice  had  been ;  which  place,  under  the 
name  of  the  "cold  church,"  still  belongs  to  the 
Hermannsburg  glebe,  ever  since  the  church  was 
burned  down  in  a  predatory  inroad  of  the  Wends, 
and  Hermann  Billing  built  the  stone  parish  church 
in  Hermannsburg.  I  have  told  you  too  of  this  Lan 
dolf,  how  he  had  gradually  converted  the  whole 
region  to  Christianity,  like  a  skilful  general,  con 
secrating  to  the  'Christian  faith  for  the  worship  of 
the  true  God,  precisely  those  places  where  the 
heathen  had  been  wont  to  adore  their  false  idols, 
so  that  the  triumph  of  Christianity  could  in  noth 
ing  have  been  more  forcibly  manifested  than ,  in 
this  founding  of  Christian  altars  and  chapels  on  the 
very  places  where  previously  the  heathen  abomi 
nations  had  been  enacted. 

"'One  hour  from  Hermannsburg  above  on  the 
Oerze,  two  little  rivers,  the  Oerze  and  Wieze,  flow 
into  one  another.  Such  meetings  of  two  rivers  are 
called  in  high  German  Miinden,  in  low  German 
Midden;  so  accordingly  the  village  situated  at  the 
meeting  of  the  two  rivers  above  mentioned  bears 
the  name  of  Miiden.  Just  a  little  above  the  place 
where  the  Wieze  flows  into  the  Oerze,  in  the  mid- 


152  PINE   NEEDLES 

die  of  the  latter  river,  lay  a  wonderfully  beautiful 
little  island,  almost  like  an  egg  in  circumference, 
which  had  a  circuit  of  perhaps  from  ninety  to  a 
hundred  paces.  How  often  when  I  was  a  child 
have  I  visited  that  little  island,  and  stayed  there 
for  hours  at  a  time.  In  the  whole  surrounding  re 
gion  I  knew  no  lovelier  place,  and  it  was  always  a 
'particular  delight  to  me  when  I  could  wander  that 
way.  On  both  sides  of  the  island  the  swift-flowing, 
clear  waters  of  the  Oerze  went  rushing  past,  trans 
parent  to  the  very  bottom,  over  the  glistening  sands 
of  which  and  among  the  long,  thick,  green  tufts  of 
the  water  ranunculus  hosts  of  nimble  trout  played 
and  darted  about.  A  little  bridge  on  each  side 
connected  the  island  with  the  two  shores.  If  you 
crossed  the  bridge  which  spanned  the  left  arm  of 
the  Oerze,  you  came  into  green  meadows  and  the 
parsonage  garden,  which  extended  along  the  left 
bank  of  the  river,  enclosed  with  a  hedge  as  high  as 
the  trees.  If  you  went  from  the  island  over  the 
bridge  of  the  right  arm  of  the  Oerze,  you  were  in 
the  court-yard  of  the  parsonage,  where  the  pastor's 
dwelling  stood.  This  island  was  entirely  framed 
in  with  high  oaks  and  alders;  and  a  number  of 
mighty  old  oaks,  with  large  trunks  and  lifting  their 
heads  high  in  air,  grew  on  the  island  and  wholly 
overshadowed  it  with  their  green  roof  of  leaves.  So 
still  it  was,  so  cool,  and  so  secluded,  upon  this  island 
that  even  the  fiercest  summer  had  no  power  over 
it;  it  was  green  and  fresh  when  everything  around 
it  was  withered  and  dried  up  by  the  hot  sunbeams. 


AND   OLD    YARNS.  153 

And  now  as  I  write  this  it  stirs  me  with  pain  to 
be  forced  to  say  that  this  island  has  disappeared! 
How  can  that  have  come  about?  It  has  fallen  a 
sacrifice  to  the  idol  of  Utility.  The  fine  oaks  have 
been  felled,  and  used  for  building  timber ;  the  alders 
have  been  cut  down  and  turned  to  firewood;  the 
island  is  no  more,  for  the  two  arms  of  the  Oerze 
have  been  dammed  up,  and  a  straight  river  bed  car 
ries  the  Oerze  now  through  green  meadows  which 
stretch  along  both  shores.  Yes,  these  are  beautiful 
too,  these  green  meadows,  and  they  are  very  prof 
itable  also  at  the  same  time;  but  the  wonderful 
beauty  of  the  island  is  departed,  vanished,  with  no 
trace  of  it  left ;  and  in  the  entire  valley  of  the  Oerze 
there  is  not  a  place  that  can  be  compared  to  it. 
See,  my  dear  readers,  this  is  what  is  done  by  the 
much  bepraised  "Enclosings,"  which  could  have 
originated  only  in  our  earthly-minded  age  ;  and 
which  spare  nothing,  neither  right  nor  usage;  re 
spect  no  old  legend,  no  old  custom ;  have  no  eye  at 
all  for  beauty,  rate  everything  only  according  to 
its  utility,  and  cannot  endure  anything  round,  but 
favour  only  straight  lines  and  sharp  corners.  Even 
the  very  unreasoning  beasts  mourn  over  the  way  in 
which  the  "Enclosings"  are  carried  on.  The  valley 
of  the  Oerze,  once  thickly  peopled  with  nightingales 
on  both  shores  of  the  river,  now  has  not  a  single 
one  to  show;  the  poor  creatures  love  the  thicket, 
the  dim  light,  the  shade  and  solitude,  where  they 
sing  their  songs  to  God  and  men;  but  the  new 
fangled  clearings  drive  the  whole  away  together. 


154  PINE   NEEDLES 

That  is  no  matter;  to  be  sure  their  singing  brings 
no  money  in. 

"  '  Well,  on  this  old  island  in  heathen  times  was 
the  sanctuary  of  the  god  Thor,  or  Donner,  as  he 
was  likewise  called  by  our  forefathers.  Among 
these  oaks  and  alders  stood  his  altar,  a  big  round 
stone  of  granite.  Near  this  great  stone  lay  a  vast 
number  of  what  are  called  thunderbolts ;  for  every 
thunderbolt  that  a  Saxon  found  he  laid  down  at 
Thor's,  or  Donner's,  altar.  Now  if  you  do  not  know 
what  thunderbolts  are,  go  to  your  pastors  or  to  some 
other  learned  folk,  and  they  will  tell  you,  and  per 
haps  she^  you  one.  The  learned  called  them  Be- 
lemnites.  They  are  longish,  round,  wedge-shaped 
stones,  pointed  below,  growing  broader  above;  at 
the  point  they  are  quite  solid  and-  have  a  so-called 
Peddig,  that  is,  a  fine,  round  core,  as  in  the  middle 
of  a  tree-stem,  which,  however,  is  entirely  turned 
to  stone;  towards  the  other  end  this  core  grows 
thicker  and  more  crumbly,  and  at  last  the  stone  be 
comes  quite  hollow.  These  are  petrifactions  of  sea 
animals,  which  have  remained  since  the  time  of  the 
flood.  In  my  childhood  the  people  still  called  these 
stones  "thunderbolts,"  and  the  belief  was  generally 
prevalent  that  in  heavy  thunder  showers  such  thun 
derbolts  fall  from  the  clouds  upon  the  earth.  That 
belief  had  its  origin  in  the  heathen  time.  It  was  the 
belief  of  our  heathen  ancestors,  that  Thor,  or  Don 
ner,  the  son  of  their  principal  deity  Woden,  was 
the  god  of  thunder;  a  man  with  a  handsome,  seri 
ous  face  and  yellow  beard,  whose  blast  caused  the 


AND    OLD    YARNS.  155 

thunder,  and  who  in  thunder-storms  drove  through 
the  air  in  a  chariot  drawn  by  goats,  and  then  in 
the  lightning  cast  his  thunderbolts  on  the  earth,  so 
that  men  might  fear  and  honour  him.  And  he 
was  not  only  the  god  of  thunder,  in  the  belief  of 
our  forefathers,  but  the  god  of  justice  also.  Who 
ever  wished  to  confirm  a  contract  with  his  neigh 
bour,  made  it  before  the  altar  of  Thor;  and  what 
ever  had  been  promised  "  by  Thor,"  could  not  be 
taken  back.  Also,  as  people  believed,  he  watched 
over  all  laws  and  rights  in  the  land;  in  the  taking 
of  oaths  he  was  the  witness  appealed  to.  And 
woe  to  him  who  perverted  law  and  justice,  woe  to 
him  who  swore  a  false  oath;  Thor's  thunderbolt 
was  sure  to  fall  upon  the  audacious  transgressor 
and  dashed  him  to  pieces.  And  so,  from  this  it 
came  that  every  thunderbolt  found  was  laid  down 
at  Thor's  altar,  as  witnesses  for  the  god  who  guarded 
laws  and  rights,  and  punished  covenant-breakers 
and  false  swearers  with  his  strong  hand.  He  dwelt 
among  oaks,  elders  and  alder-trees;  for  which  rea 
son  these  trees,  which  were  sacred  to  him,  were  al 
ways  found  about  the  places  where  sacrifices  were 
offered  in  his  honour.  Our  forefathers  were  known 
for  their  inviolable  truth.  Even  the  heathen  his 
torian  Tacitus  says  of  them,  that  the  word  of  a  Sax 
on  was  worth  more  than  the  oath  of  a  Roman,  and 
that  among  them  good  customs  were  regarded  with 
more  reverence  than  good  statues  among  the  Ro 
mans.  From  this  you  can  easily  imagine  in  what 
high  honour  the  god  Thor  was  held  by  our  fore- 


156  PINE   NEEDLES 

fathers,  and  how  sacred  was  Thor's  place  of  sacri 
fice.  But  alas,  the  full  ferocity  of  heathenism  also 
came  out  in  the  worship  of  Thor ;  for  human  vic 
tims  were  slain  in  his  honour,  whenever  through 
some  failure  of  faith-keeping  or  breaking  of  a  cov 
enant  a  curse  rested  upon  the  community.  And 
how  often  may  not  yonder  little  island  as  well  have 
drunk  the  blood  of  slaughtered  men ! 

"'Now  in  Landolf 's  time,  when  he  and  the  Chris 
tian  doctrine  had  already  been  received  at  old  Her 
mann  Billing's,  the  priest  of  Thor's  sacrificial  altar 
on  the  island  I  have  described,  was  a  silver-haired 
old  man,  whom  the  MS.  calls  Henricus;  i.  e.,  Hein- 
rich,  who  also  for  long  years  had  been  a  faithful 
friend  of  Hermann.  However,  since  Hermann  had 
become  a  Christian,  Heinrich  had  proudly  with 
drawn  from  him;  he  held  him  to  be  a  covenant- 
breaker,  and  threatened  him  with  the  judgment  of 
Thor,  which  sooner  or  later  would  fall  upon  him 
because  he  had  forsaken  the  faith  of  his  fathers. 
Hermann  sought  an  interview  with  his  old  friend, 
but  the  proud  priest  of  Thor  refused  to  give  it. 
Now,  when  in  the  great  assembly  of  the  people  at 
the  stone-houses,  of  which  I  have  formerly  spoken, 
Landolf  received  permission  to  declare  the  Chris 
tian  faith  openly  in  the  whole  country,  he  did  not 
fail  to  visit  among  other  places  also  the  sanctu 
ary  of  Thor  upon  this  island,  and  to  preach  the 
Gospel  to  the  people  who  gathered  there  for  the  of 
fering  of  sacrifices.  Heinrich  had  no  liberty  or 
power  to  hinder  the  preaching;  but  when  it  was 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  157 

done  he  came  out  as  its  most  decided  opponent; 
and  declared  in  unmeasured  terms  that  the  Saxons 
who  had  turned  or  who  should  turn  to  Christianity, 
were  covenant-breakers,  on  whom  Thor's  vengeance 
would  speedily  fall.  In  flaming  zeal,  with  these 
words  he  lifted  one  of  the  thunderbolt  stones  which 
lay  beside  Thor's  altar,  shewed  it  to  the  people,  and 
threatened  that  with  such  weapons  Thor  would 
punish  the  apostates.  Then  arose  Landolf 's  com 
manding  figure,  and  looking  at  old  Heinrich  with 
a  gentle,  happy,  beaming  smile,  he  spoke : — 

" ' "  Brother,  the  Christian's  God  is  better  than 
your  heathen  god.  See!  all  this  while  he,  the 
only  true  God,  has  borne  patiently  with  your  hea 
then  ways,  has  seen  how  you  slew  human  sacri 
fices  and  became  murderers  of  your  fellow-men; 
and  instead  of  punishing  you  for  your  sins  and 
transgressions,  he  has  borne  with  you  in  great 
love  and  patience;  and  now  still,  he  is  not  lifting 
his  arm  of  vengeance  against  you,  but  is  saying; 
'Children,  I  have  overlooked  the  times  of  igno 
rance  ;  but  now  the  time1  of  salvation  has  come,  I 
open  to  you  my  arms  of  grace  and  pray  you>  be  ye 
reconciled  to  your  God.'  But  your  god  knows  no 
love.  Hermann  has  not  transgressed  in  anywise; 
he  has  only  become  a  Christian ;  he  simply  abhors 
the  transgressions  which  he  used  to  commit.  He 
proves  his  love  towards  you ;  he  has  kept  his  friend 
ship  for  you;  he  has  besought  you;  'Brother,  come 
let  us  talk  together  about  our  beliefs,  and  see  whose 
faith  is  the  right  one.'  The  God  of  the  Christians 


158  PINE   NEEDLES 

has  taught  him  to  love  like  this.  But  you,  you 
hate  the  brother  whom  once  you  held  dear,  who 
has  done  nothing  to  harm  you;  you  refuse  him  so 
much  as  a  friendly  interview;  your  heathen  god 
has  taught  you  to  hate  like  this.  Men,"  he  went 
on,  turning  to  the  people  who  stood  around  them, 
— "which  is  the  right  God?  the  God  who  loves 
and  teaches  to  love,  or  the  God  that  hates,  and 
teaches  to  hate?" 

"  '  The  people  maintained  an  agitated  silence ;  it 
had  become  as  still  as  death,  so  that  one  could  hear 
the  very  breaths  that  were  drawn.  Thereupon  Lan- 
dolf  raised  his  voice  again,  and  told  the  people  of 
the  love  of  our  God,  who  parted  his  only-begotten 
Son  from  his  fatherly  breast  and  sent  him  down 
to  poor  sinners  to  take  pity  on  them ;  and  then  he 
went  on  to  tell  of  the  love  of  the  Son  of  God,  who 
forsook  the  throne  of  his  Father,  came  to  men,  took 
part  with  their  flesh  and  blood,  in  the  heroism  of 
love  went  about  among  men,  followed  by  his  faith 
ful  apostles;  everywhere  as  the  mighty  one,  God's 
champion,  overcoming  Satan,  setting  men  free  who 
were  fast  in  his  toils,  opening  the  eyes  of  the  blind 
and  the  ears  of  the  deaf,  making  the  lame  to  go 
and  the  sick  to  be  well ;  even  laying  hold  of  mighty 
Death  with  his  divine  hand  and  forcing  him  to  let 
go  his  prey ;  and  how  at  last  this  true  Hero  of  God, 
in  order  to  save  the  whole  captive  world  from  its 
common  oppression  under  the  evil  one,  and  that  he 
might  with  justice  and  righteousness  s'et  them  free, 
offered  himself  up  for  sinners,  for  them  suffered 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  159 

death,  went  down  into  the  grave  and  Hades  to 
overcome  death,  hell,  and  the  grave ;  thence  to  rise 
victorious,  and  to  go  back  to  his  Father,  and  to  sit 
down  again  upon  the  throne  of  God,  from  which 
he  had  gone  forth.  And  even  there  his  love  and 
pity  never  rest ;  from  thence  he  is  constantly  send 
ing  out  his  apostles  and  prophets;  and  has  sent  me 
to  you.  Not  to  punish,  not  to  condemn;  no,  but 
to  pray  you,  Be  ye  reconciled  to  God ;  to  shew  you 
his  arms  of  grace  spread  to  receive  you;  and  to  tell 
you,  Come,  for  all  things  are  ready;  the  courts  of 
heaven  where  Jesus  reigns  stand  open  to  you.  His 
blood  has  redeemed  also  you;  he  will  forgive  your 
sins,  and  has  prepared  mansions  for  you  to  dwell 
in.  Repent  and  be  baptized,  that  your  sins  may 
be  forgiven  and  that  you  may  be  the  children  of 
God. 

"  '  After  giving  such  testimony,  Landolf  kneeled 
down,  as  it  was  always  his  wont  to  do  after  preach 
ing  to  the  heathen,  and  prayed  to  the  Lord  Jesus 
that  he  would  enlighten  the  minds  of  the  heathen 
by  his  Holy  Spirit  to  receive  the  word  of  divine 
teaching,  and  that  he  would  open  their  hearts  as 
once  he  opened  Lydia's;  he  even  had  the  boldness 
to  ask  the  Lord  to  witness  for  himself,  as  the  living 
God,  among  the  people  there  assembled.' " 

"What  did  he  mean?  a  miracle?"  Flora  asked. 

"I  suppose,  something  like  the  signs  that  used 
to  be  asked  for  among  the  Jews  in  old  time.  Not 
a  miracle  exactly;  and  yet  they  were  miracles  too." 

"  What,  Ditto  ?  I  don't  remember,"  said  Maggie. 


160  PINE   NEEDLES 

"  Don't  you  remember  how  Samuel  asked  for  a 
sign  from  heaven  once,  and  the  Lord  sent  thunder, 
though  it  was  a  time  of  year  when  storms  never 
come.  Then  Elijah  asked  for  a  sign  of  fire,  and 
the  fire  fell  and  burnt  up  his  sacrifice  with  the  wet 
pile  of  wood  on  which  it  lay,  and  licked  up  the 
water  in  the  trench.  Don't  you  recollect  ?  It  was 
that  sort  of  sign  the  Jews  used  to  ask  Jesus  to  give 
them,  and  he  never  would." 

"  I  wonder  why,"  said  Flora. 

"We  must  ask  Mr.  Murray.  I  do  not  know. 
Any  more  remarks?  or  shall  I  go  on?" 

"  0  go  on,  dear  Ditto." 

"  '  Landolf  rose  up,  quiet  and  joyous.  It  seemed 
as  if  every  man  were  pondering  in  his  heart  the 
preaching  and  the  prayer;  all  were  yet  hanging 
upon  his  words;  when  up  rose  Hejnrich's  three 
sons,  priests  of  Thor  like  himself,  along  with  his 
only  daughter,  a  priestess  of  Freija,  whose  sanc 
tuary  was  situated  about  three  hours  further  up 
the  Oerze.  They  cried  in  an  open  outburst  of 
rage, — "  Our  general  assembly  at  the  stone-houses 
has  led  the  people  astray,  in  suffering  the  Chris 
tian  preacher  to  proclaim  his  Christian  faith.  Come 
over  to  us  here,  whoever  is  true  to  the  gods  of  his 
fathers !  Death  to  apostates,  and  the  vengeance  of 
the  gods ! " 

'"The  people  went  over  to  the  side  of  Heinrich's 
children.  Landolf  stood  alone. 

" '  Landolf  folded  his  hands  in  prayer,  and  looked 
up  to  heaven  with  sparkling  eyes ;  his  heart  ac- 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  1G1 

cepted  joyfully  the  martyr's  crown,  with  which 
he  thought  God  would  adorn  him.  Once  more  he 
fell  upon  his  knees  to  pray,  and  cried  out  in  a 
clear  voice,  "0  Lord,  my  God,  I  see  heaven  opened. 
Lord,  I  come  gladly,  but  bless  this  people.  Bless 
these  my  countrymen  ;  do  not  charge  their  sins 
upon  them ;  bring  them  to  the  true,  saving  faith  of 
the  Christians,  make  them  children  of  thy  church." 
Then  he  stepped  up  to  the  people  and  said,  "  Put 
me  to  death.  I  go  gladly  to  my  Jesus  in  heaven." 

" '  Upon  this,  old  Heinrich  stepped  out  in  front 
of  this  faithful  witness  of  the  Lord,  and  with  emo 
tion  he  had  hard  work  to  keep  down,  he  spoke: 
"Thou  hast  a  brave  heart.  Thou  shalt  not  die  a 
coward's  death.  I  love  thee ;  thou  art  a  hero,  and 
thy  Christ  is  a  hero  too.  He  died  for  sinners,  thou 
sayst,  and  has  vanquished  death  and  the  grave  and 
hell.  I  will  see  if  I  can  love  him.  I  cannot  yet." 

"  '  Scarcely  had  he  finished  speaking,  when  Her 
mann  hastily  came  up.  He  had  followed  after  his 
beloved  Landolf,  that  he  might  see  what  turn  things 
would  take ;  for  he  knew  that  he  was  gone  to  the 
island.  He  stretched  out  his  hand  to  Heinrich, 
and  Heinrich  did  not  turn  away,  but  grasped  it. 
And  then  the  old  man  brought  them  both  into  his 
house.  In  the  meanwhile  the  sky  became  over 
cast  with  dark  clouds;  before  anybody  was  aware, 
the  heavens  had  grown  black,  the  thunder  rolled 
and  the  lightnings  darted.  "Thor  is  driving  in 
the  clouds !  "  cried  the  young  priests ;  "  he  is  angry 
at  the  Christians !  "  "  The  God  of  glory  thunder- 
11 


162  PINE   NEEDLES 

eth;  the  Lord  is  upon  many  waters;  the  voice  of 
the  Lord  divideth  the  flames  of  fire  " — cried  Laii- 
dolf;  and  with  Heinrich  and  Hermann  he  went 
over  to  the  island.  The  crowd  stood  there  hushed; 
every  eye  was  fixed  intently  upon  the  black  clouds 
and  the  flashing  lightning.  Then  there  came  a 
crash  through  the  air,  a  blinding  blaze  darted  out 
of  the  clouds,  passed  through  the  crowd,  and  shat 
tered  to  pieces  the  sacrifice  stone.  Not  a  man  was 
hurt.  Then  Landolf  called  out  aloud :  " '  0  Lord  God, 
gracious  and  merciful,  long-suffering  and  abundant 
in  goodness  and  truth,  that  forgiveth  iniquity  and 
will  by  no  means  clear  the  guilty ! '  Brothers,  the 
Lord  has  spoken  from  heaven.  It  is  not  Thor  that 
is  God;  surely  else  he  would  not  have  destroyed 
his  own  altar  and  borne  witness  against  himself. 
The  Lord,  he  is  the  God;  He  has  shattered  the 
altar  and  left  you  alive;  give  the  glory  to  God." 
"  *  The  people  dispersed.  But  Heinrich  repaired 
to  Hermannsburg  with  Hermann  and  Landolf,  to 
the  dwelling  of  the  former,  and  remained  there 
eight  days;  during  which  time  he  was  instructed 
by  Landolf  in  the  Christian  faith.  This  teaching 
took  deep  hold  of  him;  yet  more  did  the  utter 
revolution  in  Hermann's  domestic  life.  After  the 
eight  days,  he  went  back  with  the  two  to  the  little 
island,  and  was  baptized  in  the  Oerze.  And  on 
the  spot  where  the  round  stone  had  been,  there 
was  a  little  chapel  built,  with  an  altar,  and  on  the 
altar  stood  the  image  of  the  crucified  Christ.  This 
was  the  second  great  victory  that  Landolf  fought 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  163 

for  and  gained.  From  that  time  forward  Heinrich 
was  his  faithful  helper.  All  the  great  influence 
which  until  then  he  had  enjoyed  as  the  much  rev 
erenced  priest  of  Thor,  he  used  now  only  for  the 
glory  of  Christ.  It  seemed  as  if  the  old,  grey-haired 
man  had  become  young  again.  With  all  the  zeal 
of  a  first  love,  with  all  a  young  convert's  ardour, 
he  witnessed  for  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  mighty 
Hero,  the  Conqueror  of  Satan  and  of  Thor,  who  had 
offered  himself  a  sacrifice  for  men  and  died  a  hero's 
death ;  and  in  crowds  the  Saxons  came  over  to  him, 
and  by  crowds  they  received  baptism  from  Landolf. 
His  own  sons  alone  remained  hard,  and  his  daugh 
ter  was  unmoved.  This  last,  Ikia  the  chronicle 
calls  her,  never  entered  her  father's  house  again; 
and  the  three  sons,  Tyr,  Freyr,  and  Schwerting, 
who  had  so  tenderly  loved  their  father  and  so 
deeply  revered  him,  declared  to  him  now  that 
they  were  no  longer  sons  of  his,  since  he  was  no 
longer  priest  of  Thor.  So  then  the  venerable  old 
man,  sometimes  alone,  sometimes  with  Landolf  or 
Hermann  for  a  companion,  every  week  set  out  to 
pay  a  visit  to  his  sons  and  his  daughter  and  preach 
the  Lord  Jesus  to  them.  In  the  winter  he  was  not 
to  be  daunted  by  the  snow,  nor  in  summer  by  the 
burning  sands;  leaning  on  his  staff  he  pressed  on 
through  it  all.  The  love  of  Christ  fired  him,  and 
love  to  his  children  urged  him  forward;  he  would 
so  fain  take  them  with  him  to  heaven.  He  had 
brought  them  up  in  the  idolatrous  worship  of  Thor ; 
if  they  were  lost,  it  seemed  to  him  it  would  be  by 


164  PINE   NEEDLES 

his  own  fault.  Therefore  he  made  his  weekly  pil 
grimages  to  them,  since  they  avoided  his  house  as 
though  it  were  spotted  with  the  plague.  And  then, 
when  he  had  preached  Christ  to  them,  he  went  back 
to  pray  for  them.  Yes,  he  even  made  it  a  persis 
tent  petition  that  the  Lord  Christ  would  not  let 
him  die  until  he  had  seen  his  children  walking  in 
the  Lord's  way. 

'"A  year  and  a  half  went  by  in  this  manner,  and 
still  the  hearts  of  his  children  seemed  unimpres- 
sible  and  hard  as  stone.  But  Heinrich  walked, 
preached,  and  prayed  indefatigably,  until  at  last 
he  gave  way  before  the  strain  and  the  burden  of 
years.  Eight  days  he  lay  on  his  bed,  and  yet 
wrestled  with  God  that  he  would  not  let  him  die 
before  he  had  seen  the  conversion  of  his  children. 
He  sent  messages  to  them,  telling  them  that  he  was 
sick ;  they  never  came  near  him.  He  sent  to  en 
treat  them  to  come  and  receive  his  fatherly  bless 
ing  ;  they  answered,  they  did  not  want  it.  And  so 
all  hope  seemed  to  melt  away.  But  the  Scripture 
says  with  truth,  that  Love  is  stronger  than  Death. 
And  if  human  love  upon  earth  is  so  strong,  how 
great  and  strong  must  not  the  love  of  Jesus  be  I 

" '  One  morning,  Landolf  was  sitting  beside  his 
friend's  couch,  trying  to  comfort  him,  and  as  he 
thought,  to  prepare  him  for  death,  when  in  came 
Schwerting,  the  youngest  of  Heinrich's  sons,  and 
spoke :  "  Father,  Ikia  wants  you.  She  is  sick  unto 
death,  and  wishes  to  ask  you  to  forgive  her;  she 
sent  me  to  you.  But  you  cannot  come,"  he  went 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  105 

on;  "you  are  sick  unto  death  yourself,  and  it  may 
be  will  die  now  before  Ikia,  your  child ;  and  0  she 
is  so  troubled!  for  she  has  never  seen  you  again 
since  that  day  on  the  island,  and  that  is  her  fault ! " 
At  this,  something  like  the  glow  of  the  sunlight 
swept  over  Heinrich's  pale  face,  and  leaning  over 
to  Landolf's  ear,  he  whispered  to  him:  "Pray  to 
Christ  with  me,  that  I  may  go  to  Ikia,  my  daugh 
ter;  and  you  will  go  along,  that  I  may  see  her  bap 
tized."  And  Landolf  kneels  down  by  his  friend's 
couch  and  prays,  and  Heinrich  on  his  bed  joins  in 
the  prayer,  and  they  hold  up  to  the  Lord  the  word 
that  he  had  given — "If  two  of  you  shall  agree  on 
earth  as  touching  anything  that  ye  shall  ask,  it 
shall  be  done  for  them  of  my  Father  which  is  in 
heaven;"  and  they  doubt  not  that  he  is  the  Al 
mighty  and  living  God;  therefore  they  ask  that 
He  will  give  strength  and  grace,  that  Heinrich 
may  come  to  his  daughter  Ikia  and  see  her  bap 
tism.  And  when  they  had  finished  praying,  Hein 
rich  rose  up  from  his  couch;  bade  them  bring  his 
horse ;  begged  his  friend  and  his  son  to  help  him 
to  mount;  and  when  he  was  seated  on  the  beast's 
back  he  went  forward,  up  the  Oerze,  towards  the 
sanctuary  of  Freija,  where  Ikia  was  priestess.  Lan 
dolf  on  one  side,  Schwerting  on  the  other  side,  led 
the  horse,  and  supported  the  tottering  old  man. 
Whoever  met  the  procession  joined  it,  for  Gad's 
hand  was  plainly  there;  and  after  three  hours  of 
travelling  Heinrich  reached  Ikia.  He  found  her 
dying,  but  still  in  full  possession  of  her  senses.  A 


166  PINE   NEEDLES 

happy  smile  flowed  over  her  death-white  features. 
"Father,"  said  she,  "the  Christian's  God  is  the  true 
God.  His  hand  has  been  too  strong  for  me.  I  have 
been  a  godless  child  towards  you;  will  you  forgive 
me?"  "My  child,"  said  her  father,  "I  have  for 
given  you;  and  I  have  prayed  to  my  God  that  he 
would  not  let  me  die  till  I  have  seen  your  conver 
sion  and  that  of  your  brothers,  till  I  have  seen  you 
turn  from  false  gods  to  the  living  God  who  has 
made  heaven  and  earth,  who  has  died  for  sinners 
and  made  intercession  for  the  transgressors.  I  for 
give  thee,  my  daughter,  and  Christ  also  forgives 
thee,  if  thou  wilt  be  baptized  for  the  remission  of 
sins.  See  here,"  pointing  to  Landolf,  "  here  is  the 
priest  of  the  Lord.  Let  Landolf  baptize  my  child, 
before  she  dies.  Ikia,  wilt  thou  be  baptized?"  She 
said,  "Father,  will  Christ  take  me?"  "My  child,  I 
have  received  you  and  not  been  angry  with  you, 
and  I  am  a  sinful  man.  And  Christ,  my  Lord,  is 
the  Son  of  God;  he  died  for  sinners;  and  now  he 
lives,  and  has  the  keys  of  hell  and  of  death.  He 
will  receive  thee,  only  believe."  She  turned  her 
eyes  inquiringly  upon  Landolf,  and  he  spoke ;  "  Ikia, 
it  is  written  in  the  word  of  my  God,  *  this  is  a  faith 
ful  saying  and  worthy  of  all  acceptation,  that  Christ 
Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners,  of  whom 
I  am  chief.'  So  says  the  holy  apostle  Paul.  Arid 
Jesus  spoke  to  the  thief  on  the  cross,  who  had  just 
been  reviling  him,  but  now  had  bethought  himself, 
turned,  and  said,  'Lord,  remember  me  when  thou 
comest  into  thy  kingdom' — He  said  to  him,  *Ver- 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  167 

ily,  I  say  unto  thee,  this  day  slialt  thou  be  with  me 
in  paradise ! ' ':  "  Then  baptize  me,  father,  before  I 
die.  I  believe  that  Christ  is  the  Son  of  God."  And 
Schwerting  went  out  and  fetched  water  in  a  bowl, 
and  handed  the  bowl  to  Landolf.  But  when  Lan- 
dolf  had  spoken  the  prayer  over  the  water  and  was 
about  to  baptize  Ikia  in  the  name  of  the  Triune 
God,  then  down  kneeled  Schwerting  at  the  side  of 
his  sister's  couch;  and  from  the  crowd  of  people 
collected  before  the  open  door  hurriedly  broke  forth 
two  tall  men  and  kneeled  down  by  Schwerting's 
side;  and  all  three  cried  out,  "Father,  baptize  us 
with  our  sister ! "  The  baptism  was  performed. 
And  when  it  was  done,  and  over  the  four  newly 
baptized  had  been  spoken  the  word — "  The  God  of 
all  grace  by  whom  you  have  been  born  again  in 
the  washing  of  regeneration  and  renewing  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  strengthen  you  and  uphold  you  firm 
in  the  faith  unto  the  end.  Peace  be  with  you," — 
then  the  voice  of  old  Heinrich  who  had  sunk  on 
his  knees,  came  out  in  a  shout  of  joy.  "  Lord,  now 
lettest  thou  thy  servant  depart  in  peace,  for  my 
eyes  have  seen  the  salvation  which  I  prayed  the 
Lord  for ;  that  he  would  not  suffer  me  to  die  before 
I  had  seen  the  conversion  of  my  children."  And 
when  he  had  said  that,  he  bowed  his  head  and  de 
parted;  and  Landolf  caught  the  dying  man  in  his 
faithful  arms.  Ikia  however  did  not  die ;  the  Lord, 
who  had  quickened  her  spiritually,  gave  her  also  her 
bodily  life  again.  She  recovered,  and  her  recovery 
was  a  new  salvation.  For  soon  after,  Freija's  altar 


168  PINE   NEEDLES 

was  broken  to  pieces,  and  an  altar  was  dedicated  to 
Christ  on  the  same  spot  by  the  staunch  Landolf, 
who  founded  a  cloister  there,  monasterium,  as  it 
was  called,  from  which  the  place  took  the  name  of 
Munster.  Heinrich's  body  was  laid  to  rest  in  the 
churchyard  at  Hermannsburg.  So  were  the  hearts 
of  the  children  turned  to  the  fathers;  and  it  was 
not  long  before  heathenism  had  disappeared  from 
the  valley  of  the  Oerze,  and  the  Lord  Jesus  was 
become  the  King  to  whom  every  knee  in  the  coun 
try  was  bowed.' " 


AND  OLD   YARNS.  169 


CHAPTEK   XI. 

" Uncle  Eden,"  said  Maggie,  "do  you  like  Mere 
dith's  story  ?" 

"Yes." 

"Do  you  feel  like  talking  now,  Uncle  Eden?" 

"What  about?" 

"But  I  mean — do  you  feel  like  talking — about 
anything?" 

"Depends  on  the  subject,  Maggie.  Hark  to  that 
woodpecker ! " 

"  Mr.  Murray  does  not  feel  like  talking,  I  know," 
remarked  Flora.  "He  feels — if  he  ever  feels! — 
lazy." 

"No,  Miss  Flora,  not  exactly.  And  yet,  how  de 
licious  this  quiet  is ! " 

"And  the  smell  of  the  pines ! " 

"And  the  warm,  luxurious  air!" 

"And  the  light  through  the  pine  branches,  and 
upon  the  coloured  leaves  yonder." 

"  Yes,  and  the  blue  of  the  sky,"  said  Mr.  Murray, 
who  lying  upon  his  back  had  a  good  view.  "  Blue, 
through  the  pine  needles.  Such  an  ethereal,  clear 
blue ;  not  like  summer's  intensity." 


170  PINE    NEEDLES 

"I  like  summer  best,"  said  Flora. 

"I  like  this.  But  what  did  you  want  to  talk 
about,  children?" 

"0  Uncle  Eden,  a  great  many  things.  You  see, 
we  do  not  all  think  alike." 

"Naturally." 

"And  we  want  you  to  tell  us  how  we  ought  to 
think." 

"  You  do" — said  Mr.  Murray  laughing.  "That 
will  answer  for  ten  years  old.  I  am  sure  the  oth 
ers  are  more  independent." 

"But  we  want  to  know  what  you  think,  Uncle 
Eden — about  ever  so  many  things.  We  have  been 
saving  them  up  till  you  came.  Ditto  wants  to 
know  what  Christians  ought  to  do,  about  some 
things." 

"And  I  hope  you  will  tell  him,  Mr.  Murray," 
said  Flora,  what  Christians  ought  not  to  do — about 
some  things." 

Mr.  Murray  raised  himself  up  on  his  elbows  and 
looked  at  the  young  people  around  him.  It  was  a 
very  pretty  picture.  Fair  young  faces,  that  life 
had  not  clouded,  intelligent  and  honest;  bright 
young  figures  in  all  the  freshness  of  neat  attire 
and  excellent  personal  care;  the  setting  of  the 
green  wood,  the  brown  carpet  of  pine  needles,  the 
hazy  October  air,  here  and  there  the  crimson  of  a 
Virginia  creeper,  here  and  there  the  tawny  hues  of 
a  cat  briar  or  a  wild  grape  vine ;  stillness  and  soft 
ness  over  all,  the  chirrup  of  a  cricket,  the  cawing 
of  two  crows  flying  over,  the  interrupted  tap  of  the 


AND  OLD   YARNS.  171 

woodpecker,  just  making  you  notice  how  still  and 
soft  it  was;  and  then  the  bright,  living  young  faces 
raised  or  turned,  and  waiting  upon  him.  Mr.  Mur 
ray  looked  and  smiled,  and  did  not  at  once  speak ; 
then  he  asked  what  subject  came  first?  So  many 
answers  were  begun  at  once  that  all  had  to  stop ; 
then  Maggie  getting  the  field  said, 

"We  want  to  know  how  much  a  Christian  ought 
really  to  give,  Uncle  Eden." 

"  Say  rather — how  much  he  ought  to  do,"  put  in 
Meredith. 

"Yes,"  added  Flora;  "we  do  want  instruction 
on  that  point.  Some  of  us  are  rather  wild." 

"Too  big  a  subject  for  the  present  time  and 
place,"  responded  the  referee  of  the  little  com 
pany.  "To-morrow  is  Sunday;  let  us  keep  it  for 
to-morrow,  and  come  out  here,  or  to  some  other 
place  and  discuss  it." 

"  That  is  delightful !  "  cried  Maggie  clapping  her 
hands.  "  Now — what  were  some  of  the  other  things, 
Ditto?" 

"About  the  Saxons?  But  Mr.  Murray  did  not 
hear  our  first  story." 

"01  know.  I  guess  he  knows.  You  do  know 
about  the  old  Saxons,  don't  you,  Uncle  Eden  ?  " 

"  I  know  there  was  such  a  people." 

"  And  you  know  they  were  very  good  and  very 
bad — both  at  once;  and  we  wanted  to  know  liow 
they  could  be  so  much  worse,  and  yet  so  much 
better,  than  people  nowadays." 

"  How  *  so  much  better '  ?  " 


172  PINE   NEEDLES 

"They  told  the  truth,  Uncle  Eden." 

"  There  were  no  cowards  and  no  marriage-break 
ers  among  them,"  Meredith  added. 

"  And  then  how  '  so  much  worse '  ?  " 

"  0  they  were  cruel !  they  offered  human  sacri 
fices;  they  were  frightfully  cruel." 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  Murray  thoughtfully,  "  the  con 
trast  seems  strange.  They  were  a  noble  people  in 
many  ways." 

"But  Pastor  Harms  says  they  are  not  half  so  good 
now  that  they  are  Christians,"  Maggie  went  on. 

"  If  that  is  true,  there  must  be  a  reason  for  it." 

"  Yes,  Uncle  Eden ;  of  course." 

"And  that  reason  cannot  be  found^in  their  Chris 
tianity." 

"But  how  is  it,  Uncle  Eden?" 

"  Human  nature  is  very  much  alike  at  all  times, 
my  child." 

"  But  the  old  Saxons  were  not  like  the  old  Ro 
mans,  Uncle  Eden? — the  word  of  a  Saxon  was  bet 
ter  than  a  Roman's  oath." 

"  And  the  modern  Saxons  are  not  like  their  fore 
fathers,"  said  Meredith;  "at  least  according  to  Pas 
tor  Harms." 

"I  have  no  doubt  he  is  right." 

"And  Frenchmen  are  very  different  from  Eng 
lishmen,"  added  Flora. 

"And  both  from  Americans.  And  the  Dutch 
from  all  three.  We  might  go  on  indefinitely." 

"  Yet  they  are  all  descended  from  Noah's  sons," 
Meredith  remarked. 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  173 

"  R  is  a  very  curious  subject,  and  rather  deep  for 
some  of  the  present  company.  Many  things  go  to 
make  the  differences  between  one  nation  and  an 
other.  In  the  first  place,  the  several  families  of 
Shem,  Ham  and  Japheth  are  all  strongly  marked." 

"  Are  they,  sir  ?  " 

"Then,  among  the  tribes  of  any  one  family  dif 
ferences  grow  up  from  many  causes.  From  the  sort 
of  country  they  inhabit,  the  climate  that  prevails, 
the  scenery  their  eyes  rest  on,  the  ease  or  difficulty 
of  obtaining  food  and  the  means  necessary  to  that 
end;  from  the  religion  they  believe  in,  their  situa 
tion  with  respect  to  commerce  and  intercourse  with 
other  nations ;  their  habits  of  life  superinduced  upon 
all  these." 

"But  the  modern  Saxons  live  where  the  old  Sax 
ons  did,  sir  ?  " 

"  Barely.  The  country  was  at  that  time  all  one 
wild  tract  of  forest  and  moor ;  where  life  had  need  be 
of  the  simplest,  and  where  it  was  sustained  in  great 
measure  by  the  chase  and  by  a  rude  husbandry. 
No  cities,  no  churches,  no  libraries,  no  merchants, 
no  lawyers,  no  fine  furniture,  no  delicate  living. 
Nobody  therefore  wanted  money;  and  nobody  tried 
to  get  it.  That  makes  all  the  difference  in  the 
world,  children." 

"  Money,  Uncle  Eden  ?  " 

"Look  at  the  map  of  Germany  now;  run  your 
eye  over  the  cities.  Kemember  the  treasures  of  art 
in  this  and  that  gallery ;  the  beautiful  old  buildings 
almost  everywhere ;  the  great  trading  houses ;  the 


174  PINE   NEEDLES 

life  of  complicated  interests,  political,  literary,  sci 
entific,  social,  critical,  artistic,  mercantile ;  think  of 
the  books,  the  pictures,  the  statuary,  the  jewellery, 
the  carvings  and  engravings,  the  luxurious  and 
magnificent  living;  everybody  wants  money  now, 
and  nearly  everybody  either  has  it,  or  is  working 
hard  for  it." 

"Does  money  make  so  much  odds  in  national 
character  ?  "  Meredith  asked. 

"It  is  the  root  of  all  evil,"  Mr.  Murray  said 
smiling. 

"  But  Mr.  Murray,  you  do  not  seriously  mean 
that  ?  "  said  Flora. 

"The  Bible  says  it,  Miss  Flora;  not  I." 

"But  what  can  you  have,  or  do,  that  is  worth 
anything,  without  money  ?  " 

"  Exactly.  That  is  the  general  opinion.  So  ev 
erybody  is  striving  to  get  money." 

"Well,  people  would  stagnate,  if  they  did  not 
strive  for  something." 

"Quite  true.  Nevertheless,  the  Bible  award 
proves  itself.  If  you  examine  facts,  you  will  find 
that  the  love  of  money  is  at  the  bottom  of  nearly 
all  the  crimes  that  are  committed ;  and  at  the  root 
of  all  the  meannesses,  speaking  generally." 

"  Then  you  would  make  out  money  to  be  a  bad 
thing,  Mr.  Murray !  " 

"  Not  money  necessarily.  But  *  if  any  man  wiU 
be  rich,  he  shall  fall  into  temptation  and  a  snare, 
and  into  many  foolish  and  hurtful  lusts,  which 
drown  men  in  destruction  and  perdition.'" 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  175 

"Then  was  that  the  reason,  Uncle  Eden,  why 
those  old  Saxons  were  so  noble,  because  they  had 
no  money  ?  " 

"  One  reason,  I  fancy.  Along  with  trade  and 
riches,  don't  you  see,  comes  the  temptation  to  un 
derhand  and  false  dealings,  that  money  may  be 
got  faster ;  and  so  comes  cringing  for  the  sake  of 
advantage,  and  flattery  for  the  same.  And  then, 
with  luxury  comes  dislike  of  hardships,  and  neglect 
of  manly  living,  and  people's  moral  sense  gets  weak 
along  with  their  bodily  powers.  Self-indulgence 
drives  out  the  noble  uprightness  that  was  main 
tained  when  people  feared  nothing." 

"  But  religion  —  Christianity  ?  "  said  Meredith. 
"That  ought  to  have  made  more  difference  the 
other  way." 

"So  it  would  if  it  prevailed.  But  a  name  is  not 
Christianity;  and  the  real  thing  is  only  here  and 
there.  The  wheat  in  the  midst  of  tares,  as  the 
Lord  said  it  would  be." 

Maggie  drew  a  long  sigh. 

"The  wheat  must  shew  itself  for  what  it  is,"  said 
her  uncle  smiling  at  her,  "  and  bear  a  fine  head  of 
fruit,  to  rebuke  the  tares.  Your  old  Saxons  how 
ever,  were  a  fine  stock  to  begin  with." 

"  I  think  I  understand  this  question,"  said  Mere 
dith. 

"I  do,  too,"  said  Maggie. 

"  I  am  sony  Mr.  Murray  thinks  so  ill  of  money — " 
remarked  Flora. 

"Of  the  love  of  it,  say." 


176  PINE   NEEDLES 

"But  how  can  one  have  it — or  not  have  it,  for 
that  matter — and  help  loving  it  ?  " 

"  So  the  danger  comes  in.  And  the  difficulty  of 
giving  it  all  to  Christ." 

"0  Uncle  Eden,  you  are  getting  upon  another 
of  our  questions  now." 

"And  we  have  had  enough  serious  talk  for  one 
time.  Leave  it  till  to-morrow,  Maggie." 

"Shall  I  read  some  more?"  said  Meredith.  "Or 
have  you  heard  enough  ?  " 

"  By  all  means,  read.     This  is  luxury." 

And  Mr.  Murray  stretched  himself  comfortably 
on  the  pine  needles  and  clasped  his  hands  under 
his  head,  repeating,  "  This  is  luxury  ! "  while  Mere 
dith  opened  his  book  again. 

"Another  Saxon  story,  Ditto?"  Flora  asked. 

"  Out  of  the  Saxon  chronicles.  Yes.  '  The  story 
that  I  am  going  to  tell  you  now,  happened  in  an 
cient  times  and  at  a  place  called  Dageforde. 

"  '  Our  forefathers,  the  old  Saxons,  were  then  di 
vided  into  ediling  or  nobles,  freiling  or  free  peas 
ants,  and  serfs.  A  freiling,  by  name  Henning, 
lived  on  this  farm,  in  the  days  when  Hermann 
Billing  was  duke  of  Saxony.  At  that  time,  it  is 
900  years  ago,  our  country  was  already  a  Christian 
country,  but  still  had  hard  fights  to  go  through 
with  the  heathenish  Wends,  who  made  inroads 
almost  yearly  into  our  Eastphalian  land,  plunder 
ing  and  killing,  and  showing  a  special  rage  against 
the  churches  and  the  priests.  The  strong  arm  of 
the  two  excellent  emperors,  Heinrich  and  Otto,  it 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  177 

N. 

is  true,  kept  back  these  heathen  and  held  them  in 
awe ;  but  notwithstanding,  they  availed  themselves 
of  every  opportunity  to  renew  their  murderous  on 
slaughts. 

"'Now  when  once  Kaiser  Otto  was  gone  to  Italy, 
and  staying  a  long  while  away,  they  were  minded  to 
profit  by  his  absence ;  for  they  supposed  that  now 
they  could  burn  and  lay  waste  to  their  heart's  de 
sire,  and  with  no  hindrance.  So  they  came  with 
a  great  host,  burned  down  the  churches,  killed  the 
priests,  dragged  off  men,  women  and  children  and 
treasures  of  booty,  and  came  as  far  as  to  this  part 
of  the  country.  It  is  told  of  their  frightful  rage 
against  Christianity,  that  on  one  occasion  they 
took  more  than  twenty  Christian  priests,  stripped 
off  their  clothes,  cut  bloody  crosses  on  their  faces, 
breasts,  bodies  and  backs,  and  then  tied  them  by 
their  feet  to  the  tails  of  their  horses,  which  they 
drove  round  and  round  till  their  victims  were 
dragged  to  death.'" 

"  It  cost  something  in  those  days  to  be  a  Chris 
tian  !  "  said  Meredith  with  something  of  a  shudder. 

"There  have  been  many  such  days  in  the  history 
of  the  church,"  said  Mr.  Murray.  "And  yet,  it 
pays,  to  be  a  Christian !  It  did  then." 

"I  do  not  see,  for  my  part,  how  people  stood  it, 
there  and  in  other  places,"  said  Flora.  "  I  should 
think  they  would  not  have  dared  to  confess  they 
were  Christians." 

"  They  could  not  be  Christians  and  not  confess. 
Neither  in  those  days  nor  in  these  days." 
12 


178  PINE   NEEDLES 

"Why,  Uncle  Eden? "said  Esther,  who  seldom 
said  anything. 

"  You  know  the  Lord's  declaration — he  will  own 
those  publickly  who  own  him  publickly;  and  no- 
body  else" 

"  But  why  couldn't  they  own  him  privately  ?  " 

"  Will  you  tell  me  how  that  is  to  be  done  my 
dear?" 

"Why — by  beautiful  Christian  living  and  act 
ing,"  said  Flora. 

"Don't  you  see,  if  such  living  could  be  found 
among  those  who  are  in  name  and  profession  not 
the  Lord's,  it  would  fight  all  against  his  cause  and 
him  ?  What  sort  of  confessing  of  him  is  that  ?  " 

Nobody  answered  and  Meredith  went  on. 

"'In  the  meanwhile  the  valiant  Duke  Hermann 
had  gathered  his  faithful  followers  and  moved  for 
ward  to  meet  the  enemy.  All  the  ediling  and  freil- 
ing  were  called  upon  for  such  expeditions  of  war, 
none  other  having  the  right  to  bear  arms.  The  edil 
ing  served  on  horseback  and  the  fretting  on  foot,  and 
each  one  brought  his  own  weapons  with  him.  And 
Henning,  the  freiling  of  Dageforde,  was  among 
the  Christian  warriors  who  accompanied  the  duke. 
Not  far  from  here  is  the  Hiinenburg,  an  extent 
of  heath,  on  which  there  are  a  number  of  burial 
mounds.  There  it  came  to  a  battle  between  the 
Christians  and  the  heathen.  The  fight  was  long 
and  bloody;  Christ  led  the  one  host,  Satan  the 
other.  The  Christians  fought  for  their  faith,  the 
heathen  fought  for  their  prey.  Before  the  battle, 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  179 

Hermann  with  his  warriors  had  cast  himself  upon 
his  knees  and  besought  the  Lord  Christ  that  He 
would  be  their  leader.  Therewith  came  the  storm 
of  the  heathen  upon  them,  already  certain  of  vic 
tory,  for  they  were  many  and  the  Christian  num 
ber  was  small ;  Hermann  in  his  noble  eagerness  to 
protect  his  poor  people,  not  having  had  patience  to 
wait  for  further  reinforcements.  But  the  Christians 
stood  immovable,  like  a  wall,  and  the  heathen  fell 
in  heaps  under  their  swords  and  spears.  In  the 
Christian  army  there  were  twelve  priests  wearing 
white  garments,  who  bore  a  white  banner  with  a 
red  cross ;  arid  wherever  the  fight  raged  most  madly, 
thither  they  carried  their  banner,  singing,  "Kyrie 
Eleison,  Christe  Eleison,  Kyrie  Eleison;"  the  Chris 
tian  warriors  dashing  after  them,  joining  in  the 
holy  song,  wielding  their  hacked  swords,  and  with 
irresistible  force  driving  the  heathen  back.  In  vain 
the  heathen  sought  to  slay  the  priests  and  to  seize 
their  white  banner;  every  Christian  presented  his 
breast  as  its  bulwark  against  the  foe.  Which 
ever  way  the  banner  turned,  victory  went  with  it. 
Louder  and  louder  sounded  the  "Kyrie  Eleison," 
with  more  and  more  valour  and  joy  of  victory 
the  Christians  pressed  forward.  Then  one  of  the 
Wendish  leaders,  Zwentibold  by  name,  gathered 
once  more  the  bravest  of  his  people  to  make  a 
stormy  effort  for  the  banner  of  the  cross.  His  rage 
of  onset  broke  through  some  ranks  of  the  Chris 
tians;  already  he  had  penetrated  to  the  near  neigh 
bourhood  of  the  priests;  when  a  foot  soldier  from 


180  PINE   NEEDLES 

among  the  Christians  manfully  planted  himself  in 
his  way  and  thrust  his  sharp  spear  against  the 
heathen's  broad  breast  so  that  the  coat  of  chain  ar 
mour  he  had  on  was  broken,  and  the  spear  pierced 
through  his  heart.  Now  there  was  no  stand  made 
any  longer;  the  heathen  fled,  and  in  terror  they 
cried  out,  "  Christ  has  conquered !  Christ  has  con 
quered  ! " 

'"Duke  Hermann  looked  about  him  to  see  the 
brave  freiling  who  had  done  such  a  deed  of  hero 
ism;  it  was  Henning,  the  freiling  of  Dageforde. 
For  his  reward,  Hermann  dubbed  the  brave  man 
knight  upon  the  field  of  battle ;  and  Henning  re 
turned  to  his  house  as  an  ediling.  Though  but  for 
a  little  while.  For  Hermann  was  minded  to  profit 
by  his  victory  and  compel  his  stubborn  enemies  to 
keep  the  peace  in  future.  So  he  pushed  on  with 
his  army,  now  greatly  reinforced,  into  the  country 
of  the  Wends,  and  Henning  went  with  his  duke. 

" '  Not  far  from  the  Elbe  there  was  a  temple  of 
the  heathenish  idol  Eadegast;  this  temple  stood 
within  a  strong  fortress,  called  the  fortress  of  Eade 
gast  ;  where  now  the  village  of  Eadegast  lies.  The 
heathen  had  collected  and  carried  to  this  place  all 
the  treasures  of  the  prey  they  had  seized  in  their 
plundering  incursions.  Hermann  resolved  to  storm 
this  fortress,  and  therewith  to  destroy  the  bulwark 
of  heathenism  on  this  side  the  Elbe.  The  heathen 
defended  themselves  with  the  bravery  of  despair ; 
many  assaults  were  beaten  back,  and  many  a  Chris 
tian  fell  in  death  before  the  ramparts  of  the  fortress. 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  181 

The  tenth  day  of  the  siege,  the  Christians  held  di 
vine  service  and  on  their  knees  prayed  the  Lord 
of  hosts  to  give  them  victory.  Then  they  rushed 
upon  the  place  to  take  it  by  storm ;  and  among  the 
foremost  of  those  who  clambered  up  the  ramparts 
of  the  fortress  was  Henning  of  Dageforde,  who  in 
order  to  inspirit  the  Christians  and  terrify  the  hea 
then  set  up  the  field  song  of  the  Hiinenburg — 
"  Kyrie  Eleison,  Christe  Eleison,  Kyrie  Eleison ! " 
Just  as  he  had  sung  it  through,  an  arrow  from 
one  of  the  enemy  pierced  his  bold  heart ;  he  fell  to 
the  ground  in  death,  but  as  a  dying  conqueror,  who 
has  gained  the  battle  for  Christ  and  with  Christ. 
The  fortress  was  won;  those  of  the  heathen  who 
would  not  yield  were  put  to  death.  Hermann 
dashed  away  a  tear  from  his  manly  eye  as  he  buried 
the  brave  Henning,  and  he  said  to  Hilmer,  Hen- 
ning's  oldest  son,  a  boy  of  sixteen,  who  had  come 
along  to  the  war,  "  My  son,  you  are  early  fledged. 
Your  father  was  a  true  Christian  and  a  true  Saxon ; 
follow  in  his  steps,  and  so  long  as  I  live,  I  will  be 
your  father."  Of  all  the  enormous  booty  which 
Hermann  found  in  the  Wendenburg  Kadegast,  this 
noble  man  kept  nothing  for  himself.  One  half  of 
the  treasures  he  set  apart,  to  rebuild  with  them  all 
the  churches  which  the  Wends  had  burned  down ; 
the  other  half  he  distributed  among  his  knights  and 
warriors.  Hilmer  of  Dageforde  got  his  share  too, 
and  indeed  a  double  portion,  one  for  himself  and 
one  for  his  father.  When  he  returned  home,  he 
took  counsel  with  his  mother  what  they  should  do 


182  PINE   NEEDLES 

with  it;  and  they  agreed  together  that  it  should  be 
used  for  the  glory  of  God.  They  erected  a  chapel 
in  their  own  house,  with  an  altar  and  all  the  fit 
tings  of  a  church.  Part  of  the  money  was  applied 
to  this  use,  and  with  the  remainder  a  chaplain 
cy  was  founded  in  the  church  at  Hermannsburg, 
which  at  that  time  was  the  only  church  in  the 
whole  Oerze  valley,  with  the  stipulation  that  the 
chaplain  should  come  every  Sunday  to  Dageforde 
and  hold  divine  service  in  the  chapel  there.  A 
servant,  with  a  led  horse,  must  go  to  fetch  him 
every  time  from  Hermannsburg  and  bring  him  back 
thither  again.  This  service  at  Dageforde  lasted  till 
the  Reformation.  But  when  the  evangelical  faith 
was  preached  in  Hermannsburg  by  the  valiant  Pas 
tor  Grunhagen,  who,  as  I  told  you  awhile  ago  in 
Tiefenthal,  was  converted  to  the  pure  Lutheran  doc 
trine  by  an  artisan  fellow  who  read  him  the  little 
Lutheran  catechism,  then  this  service  at  Dageforde 
ceased,  because  the  possessors  of  Dageforde  held 
stiffly  and  firmly  by  the  Catholic  faith  and  obsti 
nately  rejected  the  pure  doctrine.  But  now  for  a 
long  time  there  have  been  lords  of  Dageforde  no 
more.  The  race  died  out;  and  when  one  only  of 
the  family  was  left,  he  entered  a  Catholic  cloister, 
where  in  the  year  1616  he  died.  Then  the  reign 
ing  duke  gave  the  manor  of  Dageforde  to  the  lords 
of  Luneburg,  and  they  again  sold  it  to  some  peas 
ants,  after  they  had  divided  the  farm  into  two.  So 
these  farms  have  again  become  what  they  were 
originally — peasant  farms.  God  grant  to  the  pres- 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  183 

ent  owners  that  they  may  stand  firm  and  true  to 
the  pure  faith  of  our  beloved  church,  that  they  may 
earnestly  strive  to  be  genuine  Christians  and  genu 
ine  Saxon  peasants ;  then  will  it  go  well  with  them 
and  with  those  that  come  after  them.'" 


184  PINE   NEEDLES 


CHAPTEK    XII. 

Meredith  paused,  half  closed  his  book,  was  evi 
dently  pondering  for  a  minute,  and  then  exclaimed, 
"  I  have  learned  something ! " 

"  Why  so  have  we  all,"  said  his  sister.  "  What 
now  particularly  ?  " 

"  I  have  got  a  hint." 

"  What  about  ?  There  is  no  fortress  for  you  to 
storm — and  you  do  not  want  the  treasure." 

"I  think  I  should  like  to  have  lived  in  those 
times,"  Meredith  went  on.  "People  were  in  ear 
nest,  Mr.  Murray." 

"Yes.     So  are  some  people  in  these  times." 

"But  not  the  world  generally;  or  only  about 
making  money.  TJien  people  were  in  earnest  about 
things  worth  the  while." 

"It  does  seem  so  from  these  stories,"  said  Mr. 
Murray ;  "  but  dear  Meredith,  you  may  be  equally 
in  earnest  about  the  same  things  now,  and  with  as 
good  reason." 

"  Isn't  it  more  difficult,  sir,  when  nobody  else,  or 
only  a  few  here  and  there,  think  and  feel  with 
you?" 


AND    OLD    YARNS.  185 

"Yes — more  difficult;  or  rather  more  easy  to  go 
to  sleep ;  but  so  much  the  greater  need  of  men  who 
are  not  asleep.  What  is  your  hint?  I  am  curious, 
with  Miss  Flora." 

"  The  way  that  fellow  spent  his  treasure,  sir.  I 
was  thinking.  Wouldn't  a  chapel — that  is  a  little 
church,  a  little  free  church,  at  Meadow  Park  be  a 
good  thing  ?  The  nearest  church  is  two  miles  off; 
we  can  drive  to  it,  but  the  people  who  have  no 
horses  cannot,  and  the  poor  people — " 

Meredith  got  a  variety  of  answers  to  this  sugges 
tion.  His  sister  opened  her  mouth  for  an  outcry  of 
dismay.  Maggie  clapped  her  hands  with  a  burst 
of  joy.  Esther  stared;  and  a  smile,  very  sweet  and 
wise,  shewed  itself  on  Mr.  Murray's  lips. 

"  Quixotic ! — ridiculous !  "  said  Flora.  "  Isn't  it, 
Mr.  Murray  ?  Ditto  has  not  money  enough  for 
everything  either.  A  church  !--and  then,  I  sup 
pose,  a  minister ! " 

"  Is  it  a  bad  notion,  Mr.  Murray  ? "  inquired 
Meredith. 

"  I  should  think  not — very." 

"  Is  it  extravagant  ?" 

"  Miss  Flora  thinks  so." 

"  Well,  Mr.  Murray,  think  what  it  would  cost !  " 
cried  the  young  lady. 

"  Not  so  much  as  a  large  evening  party — that  is, 
it  ought  not.  I  suppose  Meredith  is  not  thinking 
of  stone  carvings  and  painted  windows,  but  of  a 
neat,  pleasant,  pretty,  plain  house  where  people 
can  worship  God  and  hear  the  words  of  life." 


186  PINE   NEEDLES 

"  That  is  it  exactly,"  said  Meredith. 

"  Then  I  should  say  that  one  very  fine  evening 
entertainment  would  build  two." 

"But  the  minister?  he  must  be  paid,"  said  Flora. 

"Yes,  and  I  am  not  for  starving  a  minister, 
either,"  said  Mr.  Murray.  "  But  what  is  Meredith 
to  do  with  his  income,  Miss  Flora  ?  " 

"That's  just  what  I  want  to  know,"  remarked 
Meredith  in  an  undertone;  while  Flora  answered 
with  some  irritation — 

"  He  can  let  it  accumulate,  till  he  has  made  up 
his  mind." 

"  *  Kiches  kept  for  the  owners  of  them,  to  their 
hurt,' "  said  Mr.  Murray.  "  Better  not,  Miss  Flora. 
Remember,  Meredith  is  only  a  steward.  'The  sil 
ver  is  mine,  and  the  gold  is  mine,'  saith  the  Lord 
of  hosts." 

"  Do  you  mean,  Mr.  Murray,  that  we  cannot  do 
what  we  like  with  our  money  ?  " 

"You  can  do  what  you  like  with  it,  certainly." 

"  But  I  mean,  isn't  it  right  for  us  to  do  what  we 
like  with  it?" 

"  I  should  like  to  do  that," — murmured  Meredith. 

"Miss  Flora,  the  question  is,  rightly  stated, — May 
a  steward  use  his  lord's  money  for  his  own  or  his 
lord's  pleasure  ?  " 

Flora  coloured,  and  pouted.  "But  that  makes 
religion — Why,  I  never  thought  religion  was  strict 
like  that.  Then  it  isn't  right  to  buy  jewels,  or 
dresses." 

"  Dresses — certainly." 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  187 

"But  I  mean,  rich  dresses;  dresses  for  company. 
And  pictures — and  horses — and  books — and — " 

"Stop,  Miss  Flora.  The  servant  himself  belongs 
to  his  lord;  therefore  he  must  make  of  himself  the 
very  best  he  can.  For  this,  books  will  certainly  be* 
needed  and  to  some  degree  all  the  other  things 
you  have  named,  except  jewels  and  what  you  call 
rich  dresses.  The  only  question  in  each  case  is — 
*  How  can  I  do  the  Lord's  work  best  ?  how  can  I 
spend  this  money  to  honour  and  please  him  most?' 
That  will  not  always  be  by  the  cheapest  dress  that 
can  be  bought ;  nor  by  checking  the  cultivation  of 
taste  and  the  acquiring  of  knowledge,  nor  even 
by  the  foregoing  of  arts  and  accomplishments. 
Only  the  question  comes  back  at  every  step,  and 
must  at  every  step  be  answered — '  What  does  the 
Lord  want  me  to  do  here?  Does  he  wish  me  to 
spend  this  money — or  time — on  myself,  or  on  some 
body  else  ? ' " 

"Why  it  would  be  always  on  somebody  else," 
said  Flora,  looking  ready  to  burst  into  tears ;  "  and 
there  would  be  no  real  living  at  all !  no  enjoying 
of  life." 

"A  mistake" — said  Mr.  Murray  quietly.  "The 
Lord  told  us  long  ago — '  He  that  will  save  his  life 
shall  lose  it ;  and  he  that  loseth  his  life  for  my  sake, 
the  same  shall  find  it.'  " 

Flora  put  up  her  hand  over  her  eyes,  but  Mere 
dith's  eyes  sparkled. 

"  Then  you  think  well  of  my  plan,  Mr.  Murray  ?  " 
he  said. 


188  PINE   NEEDLES 

"  As  far  as  I  understand  it." 

"  How  would  the  Pavilion  do,  for  a  skeleton  of 
the  church?" 

"  0  Ditto !  the  dear  old  Pavilion ! "  exclaimed 
Maggie. 

"Why  not?  I  do  not  want  to  shut  myself  off 
from  everybody  now — and  I  have  the  whole  house ; 
more  than  enough.  And  the  Pavilion  stands  in  a 
good  place,  near  the  road." 

Mr.  Murray  and  Meredith  went  into  a  discussion 
of  the  plan,  and  Maggie  listened,  while  Flora  after 
a  while  resumed  her  work  and  went  moodily  on 
with  it.  At  last  Mr.  Murray  remarked, 

"This  is  not  so  interesting  to  everybody,  Mere 
dith,  and  we  have  time  enough  to  talk  it  over. 
Suppose  you  go  on  reading." 

"Do  you  like  these  Saxon  stories?"  said  Mere 
dith,  pleased. 

"Very  much." 

"There  is  some  more  here  about — not  Dageforde 
exactly, — but  that  same  fight,  which  I  think  you 
would  like  perhaps  to  hear." 

"And  Meredith,  you  did  not  read  us  about  that 
minister  who  was  converted  by  the  catechism," 
said  Maggie. 

"No,  that  is  another  story — Pastor  Griinhagen. 
I  will  read  to  you  first  about  the  fight  at  the 
Hunenburg. 

"'The  Hunenburg  is  situated  in  a  deep  dell  in 
the  midst  of  the  heath  about  an  hour  from  Her- 
mannsburg;  and  I  will  relate  to  you  what  I  have 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  189 

found  in  the  chronicle  about  it.  It  is  nine  hundred 
years  now  since  a  hard-fought  and  terrible  battle 
took  place  here,  which  was  fought  between  the 
Christians  and  the  heathen.  At  that  time  the  pi 
ous  and  Christian  kaiser,  Otto  the  Great,  ruled  in 
Germany  (A.  D.  936-973),  who  loved  the  Lord  his 
God  with  all  his  heart.  He  had  gone  away  out  of 
Germany  into  Italy,  in  order  to  free  a  captive  queen 
who  was  kept  in  prison  there  by  some  godless  folk. 
But  he  would  not  leave  Germany  without  protec 
tion  ;  therefore  he  made  over  this  country  to  Duke 
Hermann,  to  govern  it  and  to  take  care  of  it.  In 
like  manner  Adaldag,  archbishop  of  Hamburg  and 
Bremen,  who  went  with  the  kaiser,  confided  his 
dominions  to  the  same  guardianship.  Now  the 
Wends,  who  lived  on  the  other  side  of  the  Elbe, 
especially  in  Mechlenburg,  and  had  spread  them 
selves  abroad  on  this  side  the  Elbe  also,  were  at 
that  time  still  heathen.  And  now  when  the  kaiser 
was  absent,  they  thought  the  time  was  come  for 
marauding  and  plundering,  hunting  the  Christians 
out  of  their  country,  or  utterly  destroying  them. 
So  they  summoned  up  all  their  warriors,  and  that 
so  secretly  that  the  Christians  knew  nothing  of  it 
until  they  came  breaking  into  the  country.  As 
there  was  nowhere  any  preparation  for  defence 
against  them,  they  robbed  and  plundered  all  that 
came  in  their  way,  burned  down  the  churches, 
killed  the  priests,  and  dragged  the  rest  into  cap 
tivity  for  slaves.  Duke  Hermann  was  just  then  in 
the  Bremen  territory,  from  whence  he  had  expelled 


190  PINE   NEEDLES 

the  piratical  Northmen  (the  Danes).  There  the 
terrible  news  found  him.  In  the  greatest  haste  he 
collected  his  warriors  to  come  and  save  his  coun 
try.  For  the  Wends  had  already  penetrated  to 
Luneburg,  as  far  as  this  heath,  and  had  laid  every 
thing  waste  with  fire  and  sword;  the  Hermanns- 
burg  church  was  destroyed  by  them  at  that  time. 
Here  upon  this  ground  they  had  made  a  strong  en 
campment,  and  surrounded  it  with  ditches  and  forti 
fications  like  a  fortress ;  they  were  from  fifty  to  six 
ty  thousand  men  strong,  in  horsemen  and  footmen, 
and  all  of  them  alive  with  the  same  enraged  hatred 
of  the  Christians,  and  determined  that  every  trace 
of  Christianity  should  be  wiped  away  from  the 
land.  In  August  of  the  year  945  Duke  Hermann 
marched  hither  out  of  the  Bremen  country,  over 
the  northern  heights  of  Liddernhausen  and  Dohn- 
sen.  When  he  saw  himself  with  his  eight  thou 
sand  men  on  foot  and  two  thousand  horsemen  con 
fronted  by  the  great  host  of  the  Wends,  he  said  to 
his  faithful  followers — "We  must  fight;  whether 
God  will  give  us  the  victory,  we  must  leave  with 
him."  Then  stepped  up  one  of  his  knights  before 
him,  who  is  called  in  the  chronicle  "the  brave 
Conrad,"  of  the  now  extinct  race  of  them  of  Hasel- 
horst,  and  spoke: — 

"'"Let  us  get  a  token  from  God.  I  will  go  for 
ward  and  challenge  one  of  the  enemy  to  single 
combat;  so  .will  the  Lord  shew  us  to  whom  he  has 
allotted  the  victory." 

"'Duke  Hermann  gave  permission.    The  knight, 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  191 

followed  at  some  distance  by  a  hundred  men,  who 
were  to  see  that  all  was  done  in  order,  rode  alone 
into  the  defile  and  challenged  Mistewoi,  the  leader 
of  the  Wends,  to  send  one  of  his  people  to  meet  him 
in  single  combat.  Then  stepped  forward  Zwenti- 
bold,  a  Wend  of  giant  stature,  clad  in  a  dragon 
skin  and  with  a  shirt  of  link  mail  over  it,  and  on 
the  head  of  his  helmet  the  black  image  of  his  god 
Zernebok;  behind  him  also  a  hundred  men  to  look 
on.  The  Christian  knight  first  called  upon  God  to 
be  his  helper  and  protection;  "Lord  remember  how 
thou  gavest  strength  to  thy  servant  David  against 
the  giant  Goliath  who  had  reviled  thy  name;  so 
now  to-day  establish  thy  glory  among  the  heathen, 
and  shew  plainly  that  thou  art  the  true  God." 

'"Upon  that,  with  lances  in  rest  they  charged 
upon  each  other;  and  when  the  spears  were  splint 
ered  in  that  first  shock,  then  it  came  to  a  fight  with 
swords,  man  against  man.  Suddenly  comes  a  trait 
or's  arrow  from  the  Wends  flying  through  the  air 
and  kills  the  Christian's  horse.  But  their  wicked 
ness  turns  to  their  own  knight's  ruin.  For  as  the 
Wend  gallops  up  to  the  fallen  Christian,  and  is 
about  to  cut  him  down  with  a  stroke  from  above, 
up  springs  the  Christian  knight  and  thrusts  his 
sword  in  under  the  other's  shoulder,  so  that  he 
falls  dead  from  his  horse.  The  victory  is  won ! 
But  hereupon  comes  new  treachery.  For  now 
those  hundred  Wends  charge  straight  down  upon 
the  German  knight  As  his  own  attendants  per 
ceive  this,  they  hasten  to  his  help,  nothing  loath; 


192  PINE   NEEDLES 

the  armies  on  both  sides  close  in,  and  the  fight 
soon  becomes  general.  It  is  fought  with  the  ut 
most  bitterness  and  braveiy  on  both  sides,  till  even 
ing  fall.  But  the  Christians  all  the  while  press 
steadily  forward. 

"'While  the  men  wielded  the  sword,  the  wives 
of  the  Christians  came  out  to  the  field,  drew  away 
the  wounded  and  sucked  the  blood  from  their 
wounds  (because  they  believed  that  the  arrows  of 
the  Wends  were  poisoned),  bound  them  up,  and 
encouraged  their  husbands  and  sons  to  make  brave 
fight.  A  company  of  twelve  priests  carried  a  ban 
ner  with  a  red  cross  on  a  white  ground.  The 
priests  sang,  "Kyrie  Eleison!"  ("Lord,  have  mercy 
upon  us!")  " Christe  Eleison !  Kyrie  Eleison !"  and 
the  people  chimed  in.  A  terror  of  God  went  with 
them  wherever  they  went  and  scattered  the  Wends 
from  every  place  where  the  white  banner  came.  As 
one  of  the  heathen  leaders  with  a  company  was 
making  a  determined  rush  upon  the  banner,  the 
peasant  of  Dagefo'rde  drove  his  spear  through  the 
chieftain's  coat  of  mail  into  his  breast.  Thereupon 
the  heathen  all  fled.  And  all  the  Christians  fell 
upon  their  knees  and  all  cried  out,  "Lord  God,  we 
praise  thee ! "  Then  the  priests  spoke  the  benedic 
tion  over  the  victorious  host.  And  they  left  noth 
ing  remaining  of  the  enemy's  camp,  but  destroyed 
it  entirety,  because  they  would  not  suifer  any  hea 
then  works  upon  their  ground.  But  the  name  has 
remained;  for  Huhnen  was  the  name  our  forefa 
thers  gave  to  all  heathen;  that  came  from  the 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  193 

Huns  in  the  first  place,  who  fell  upon  the  Chris 
tians  with  such  heathenish  rage.  So  that  place  is 
called  Hiihnenburg  until  this  day. 

"  'The  church  at  Hermannsburg  was  rebuilt  again 
after  that  time.  And  soon  also  Christianity  came 
to  the  Wends,  and  the  Lord  Jesus  was  conqueror 
over  them  all.' " 

"You  read  part  of  that  before,"  said  Maggie. 

"  Part  of  the  story,  but  I  thought  you  would  like 
to  have  the  whole." 

"  0  I  do.  But  I  thought  it  was  Zwentibold  that 
Henning  of  Dageforde  killed,  when  he  was  trying 
to  get  at  the  white  banner  ?  " 

"Maybe  there  were  two  Zwentibolds.  Or  the 
story  got  a  little  confused  among  the  old  chron 
iclers." 

"Then  how  is  one  to  know  which  is  true?" 

"It  is  difficult  very  often,  Maggie,"  her  uncle 
said  smiling.  "  Human  testimony  is  a  strange 
thing,  and  very  susceptible  of  getting  confused." 

"What  will  you  read  next,  Ditto?  About  the 
minister  who  was  converted — " 

"  0  no,"  said  Flora.  "  Let  the  catechism  alone. 
Haven't  you  got  some  more  Saxon  stories,  Mere 
dith?" 

"  Plenty.     Which  shall  it  be,  Mr.  Murray  ?  " 

"  Saxon,  for  this  time." 

"  '  THE    REMMIGA    FARM. 

"  *  As  in  my  former  narrations  I  have  told  of  the 
glorious  victory  which  with  God's  help   Landolf 
13 


194  PINE   NEEDLES 

gained  over  the  old  priest  Heinrich  and  his  chil 
dren,  I  will  tell  you  now  of  a  third  victory  which 
the  Lord  granted  him.  An  hour  from  here  was  a 
farm  which  in  the  chronicle  is  called  the  Remmiga 
manor;  it  was  inhabited  by  a  free  man,  named 
Walo.  His  wife's  name  was  Odela ;  sometimes  the 
chronicle  calls  her  Adela.  The  name  is  one,  for 
the  word  Adel  is  often  written  and  spoken  as  Odel 
in  the  old  manuscripts.  The  pair  had  a  son,  who 
bore  his  father's  name. 

'"As  owner  of  a  head  manor,  Walo  was  at  the 
same  time  priest  of  the  community;  which  dignity 
always  went  along  with  the  possession  of  a  chief 
manor  among  the  old  Saxons.  All  the  councils  and 
courts  of  the  community  were  held  under  his  presi 
dency;  he  brought  the  sacrifices  thereto  pertaining; 
and  it  is  easy  to  imagine  what  consideration  on  all 
these  accounts  he  enjoyed.  This  consideration  was 
still  further  heightened  by  the  fact  of  his  knowl 
edge  of  the  old  laws  and  customs,  and  by  his  incor 
ruptible  truth  and  uprightness.  Like  Heinrich,  he 
too  was  at  the  beginning  a  determined  enemy  of  the 
Christian  religion.  Landolf  visited  him  frequently 
and  told  him  about  the  Lord  Jesus,  but  Walo's  ear 
was  deaf  to  the  truth  of  the  Gospel.  He  knew 
from  old  legends  that  once  upon  a  time  two  broth 
ers,  the  white  and  the  black  Ewald,  who  had 
preached  Christianity. among  the  Saxons,  had  been 
by  them  sacrificed  to  their  idols.  And  so,  with 
Saxon  tenacity  holding  fast  to  the  old  traditions,  he 
told  Landolf  to  his  face,  that  in  justice  he  ought  to 


AND  OLD   YARNS.  195 

suffer  the  same  fate  which  had  fallen  upon  the  two 
Ewalds;  and  that  it  could  not  be  carried  out  upon 
him,  simply  because  the  decision  of  the  people, 
taken  by  the  national  assembly  at  the  stone-houses, 
once  taken  became  a  law,  according  to  which  the 
free  preaching  of  the  Gospel  was  permitted.  Lan- 
dolf  did  not  allow  himself  to  be  daunted  by  this, 
but  continued  his  visits  and  his  teachings ;  for  he 
observed  that  Walo,  in  spite  of  all  that,  always  lis 
tened  with  attention  when  he  told  about  the  Lord 
Christ. 

" '  One  day  Landolf  came  again  to  Remmiga. 
He  found  Walo  sitting  in  front  of  his  dwelling,  by 
the  place  of  sacrifice,  where  the  assemblies  of  the 
district  were  wont  to  be  held;  still  and  sunk  in  his 
own  thoughts.  Near  him  stood  his  wife  Odela  and 
his  little  son,  who  was  perhaps  twelve  years  old. 
The  boy  ran  joyously  to  meet  Landolf  and  said, 
"It  is  nice  that  you  have  come.  I  have  just  been 
asking  father  to  let  me  go  away  with  you;  I  would 
like  to  hear  a  great  deal  about  the  Lord  Jesus;  I 
want  to  be  his  disciple.  Mother  is  glad;  and" — 
he  whispered  softly,  "she  loves  the  Son  of  God  too; 
but  father  feels  very  troubled,  and  don't  like  it; 
he  says  he  has  lost  his  wife  and  his  son  to-day ! " 
Odela  gave  Landolf  her  hand  and  spoke  aloud. 
"  Yes,  I  love  Jesus ;  I  want  to  be  his  disciple ;  but 
Walo  will  have  none  of  it;  and  so  I  too  will  go 
with  you,  that  I  may  hear  about  Jesus  and  be  bap 
tized." 

" '  Landolf  hardly  knew  where  he  stood.     Until 


196  PINE   NEEDLES 

this  time  Odela  and  her  son  had  listened  in  silence 
when  he  talked  about  Jesus,  but  never  a  word  had 
they  spoken.  Now  they  told  how,  while  he  talked, 
the  Lord  Jesus  had  so  grown  into  their  hearts  that 
they  could  not  get  loose  from  him  again;  and  they 
did  not  wish  to  get  loose ;  for  they  wanted  to  be 
saved  and  to  come  into  the  Christian's  heaven 
where  Jesus  is  and  the  holy  angels. 

" '  Then  up  rose  Walo,  turned  a  dark  look  upon 
Landolf  and  said  to  him,  "Thou  hast  led  astray  my 
wife  and  my  son  with  thy  words,  and  now  I  have 
no  wife  and  no  son  any  more.  Go  out  of  my 
grounds  ;  take  my  wife  and  my  son  with  thee ; 
they  have  no  love  for  me  any  longer;  their  love  is 
for  Jesus." 

"  '  "  0  Walo,"  Landolf  answered,  "  seest  thou  not 
yet  that  thy  gods  are  dead  idols  ?  .  Dost  thou  not 
see  that  Jesus  is  the  true,  the  living  God  ?  Jesus 
has  won  their  hearts;  thine  idols  cannot  win  hearts; 
thou  mayest  see  that  by  thy  wife  and  thy  son.  Let 
Jesus  gain  thy  heart  too.  You  shall  all  three  be 
saved." 

"  *  Walo  shook  his  head.  "  He  wins  not  my 
heart ! " 

"  ' "  Then,"  cried  the  servant  of  the  Lord  joyfully, 
"  then  shall  thy  wife  and  thy  son  win  thy  heart  for 
Jesus.  Thy  wife  and  thy  son  desire  to  be  baptized. 
Thou  canst  not  hinder  them;  they  are  free;  they 
are  noble  born.  I  am  going  to  baptize  them  now, 
this  day,  in  thy  presence ;  for  they  believe  in  Jesus, 
that  he  is  the  Son  of  God.  But  I  know  that  thy 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  197 

wife  and  thy  son  are  dear  to  thee,  and  thou  art  very 
dear  to  them,  only  Jesus  is  dearer  yet.  Let  them 
remain  with  thee  after  they  are  baptized;  do  not 
thrust  them  out  from  thy  house.  And  if  when  they 
are  baptized  they  love  thee  still  better  than  former 
ly,  if  they  are  more  dutiful  to  thee  than  formerly, 
wilt  thou  then  believe  that  Jesus  is  mightier  than 
thine  idols  ?  Thou  hast  often  told  me  that  Odela 
is  proud  and  passionate,  though  in  all  else  good 
and  noble.  Now  if  when  she  is  baptized  she  be 
comes  humble  and  gentle,  wilt  thou  then  believe 
that  Jesus  can  give  people  new  hearts  ?  " 

" '  Walo  looked  at  the  glad  Landolf  with  an  aston 
ished  face.  "Odela  humble  and  gentle?"  said  he. 
"Yes,  then  I  will  believe  that  Jesus  can  make  the 
heart  new ;  I  will  believe  that  he  is  God,  and  I  will 
worship  him." 

"'"Give  me  thy  right  hand,  Walo,"  said  Lan 
dolf;  "I  know  a  Saxon  keeps  his  word  and  never 
tells  a  lie,  and  Walo  before  all  others." 

"'They  shook  hands.  Landolf  did  not  delay. 
He  went  immediately  for  Hermann  and  Heinrich 
and  fetched  them  to  share  in  his  joy  and  to  act  as 
the  sponsors.  And  0  how  gladly  they  came.  That 
same  evening  Adela  and  her  son  were  baptized  in 
the  name  of  the  Triune  God;  and  Landolf  joyously 
reminded  them  that  he  had  promised  Walo  his  wife 
arid  his  son  should  win  his  heart  for  Christ. 

'"A  year  passed  away,  and  on  the  very  day 
on  which  Adela  arid  her  son  had  been  baptized, 
Walo  also  received  baptism ;  for  the  Christianized 


198  PINE   NEEDLES 

Adela  had  become  humble  and  gentle,  because  Je 
sus  dwelt  in  her  heart;  and  after  their  baptism  she 
and  her  son  had  loved  the  husband  and  father  still 
more  ardently  and  had  been  more  obedient  to  him 
than  before.  Walo  confessed,  "they  are  better  than 
I."  0  the  Christian  walk,  the  Christian  walk !  how 
mighty  it  is  to  convert;  the  walk  of  Christians  is 
the  living  preaching  of  the  living  God. 

"'And  now  a  Christian  chapel  was  erected  by 
Walo  at  Remmiga,  on  the  place  of  sacrifice;  and 
around  the  chapel  there  rose  up  a  Christian  village, 
which  established  itself  upon  his  soil  and  territory ; 
a  brook  ran  through  the  new  village,  which  was 
therefore  called  Bekedorf,  and  is  called  so  at  the 
present  day ;  it  lies  in  the  parish  of  Hermannsburg. 
The  chapel  stood  till  the  thirty  years'  war;  it  was 
burnt  down  then  by  Tilly's  marauders  and  has 
never  been  built  up  again.  But  there  is  more  of 
the  story.  Walo  died  old  and  full  of  days,  in  the 
arms  of  his  wife  and  son.  Landolf  had  gone  home 
long  before,  and  so  had  old  Hermann  and  Heinrich. 
But  the  young  Walo  had  grown  to  be  the  most 
faithful  friend  of  Hermann's  son,  who  was  also 
named  Hermann,  and  who  by  Kaiser  Otto  the  Great 
was  made  duke  of  Saxony.  So  then,  when  Her 
mann  Billing  was  made  the  kaiser's  lieutenant  of 
the  kingdom  in  northern  Germany,  upon  occasion 
of  Otto's  journey  into  Italy,  Hermann  made  his  faith 
ful  Walo  a  graf,  that  is,  one  of  the  chief  judges  of 
the  country;  and  he  travelled  about  and  wrought 
justice  and  righteousness,  and  was,  as  the  Scripture 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  199 

says  of  an  upright  judge,  "  for  a  terror  to  evil-doers 
and  the  praise  of  them  that  did  well."  He  married 
Odelinde,  a  noble  young  lady;  who  also  loved  the 
Saviour,  and  had  been  brought  up  by  the  good 
cloister  ladies  at  the  Quanenburg.  They  led  a  happy 
and  God-fearing  life,  but  they  had  no  children. 
When  now  both  of  them  were  old  and  advanced  in 
years,  Odelinde  one  day  was  reminding  her  hus 
band  of  the  blessing  she  had  received  from  the 
pious  training  of  the  cloister  ladies;  and  she  asked 
him  whether,  as  they  had  no  children,  and  were 
rich,  they  might  not  found  another  cloister  with" 
their  money,  in  which  noble  young  girls  should  be 
educated  by  good  cloister  sisters.  Walo  complied 
with  her  wish  gladly ;  for  he  loved  the  kingdom  of 
God,  and  at  that  time  the  cloisters  were  simply  the 
abodes  of  piety;  they  were  not  yet  places  of  idle 
ness,  but  of  diligence;  not  homes  of  lawlessness, 
but  of  modesty ;  not  of  superstition,  but  of  faith. 

'"About  four  miles  from  his  place  on  the  river 
Bohme  lay  a  wide  tract" of  meadow  land,  bordered 
by  a  magnificent  thick  wood  of  oaks  and  beeches. 
When  Walo  travelled  through  the  country  as  graf, 
he  had  often  been  greatly  pleased  with  this  spot ; 
and  it  had  occurred  to  him  that  such  beauty  ought 
not  to  remain  any  longer  given  up  to  wild  beasts, 
but  should  become  a  dwelling-place  for  men.  This 
thought  recurred  now  vividly  to  his  mind.  His 
wife  desired  to  see  the  place  too.  So  they  went  to 
view  it,  and  decided  to  build  a  cloister  there,  around 
which  then  other  human  dwellings  would  grow  up, 


200  PINE    NEEDLES 

but  the  cloister  itself  should  be  the  home  of  pious 
ladies  whose  special  business  should  be  the  bring 
ing  up  of  nobly  born  young  girls.  The  wood  was 
rooted  up'  (roden  is  to  root  up);  'and  on  the  Bode' 
(that  is,  the  space  cleared)  '  the  cloister  was  built, 
which  thereupon  was  called  Walos  Rode;  about 
which  later  the  village  Walsrode  was  settled,  which 
still  later  spread  itself  out  into  a  little  city,  having 
the  cloister  to  thank  for  its  origin.  Walo  not  only 
built  the  cloister  at  his  own  expense,  but  also  en 
dowed  it  for  its  support  with  the  tithes  of  the  Beke- 
dorf  village,  which  belonged  to  the  manor.  It  is 
but  a  little  while  since  the  Bekedorfers  bought  off 
these  tithes. 

'"I  must  state,  however,  that  in  my  extracts 
from  the  chronicle  there  occurs  a  divergence  from 
the  usual  dates.  That  is,  I  have  formerly  read 
under  a  picture  of  Graf  Walo  in  the  cloister  church 
at  Walsrode  the  number  of  the  year  986.  In  my 
extracts  on  the  other  hand  it  is  said  that  the  clois 
ter  was  founded  by  Walo  in  the  year  of  grace  974, 
and  consecrated  by  Bishop  Landward  of  Munden. 
The  last  can  be  explained  by  the  fact  that  the  val 
ley  of  the  Oerze  belonged  to  the  see  of  Munden 
and  not  to  the  nearer  Verden,  and  therefore  Wals 
rode  also  being  founded  from  hence,  must  be  con 
secrated  by  the  Miiiiden  bishop.  But  as  to  the  dif 
ference  of  the  two  dates,  I  can  do  nothing  further 
to  clear  that  up ;  since  I  am  no  investigator  of  his 
tory,  but  have  simply  written  down  what  I  have 
found.'" 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  201 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

"  I  like  that,"  said  Maggie  sedately. 

"  How  curiously  near  it  seems  to  bring  the  Mid 
dle  ages,"  said  Meredith.  "The  picture  of  Graf 
Walo  !  And  Pastor  Harms  has  seen  it." 

"  Why  couldn't  Walo  build  a  school-house,  with 
out  making  a  cloister  of  it  ?  "  asked  Maggie. 

"  There  were  really  reasons,  apart  from  religious 
ones,"  Mr.  Murray  replied.  "  You  remember  your 
views  of  old  castles  on  the  Ehine,  perched  up  on 
inaccessible  heights  ?  " 

"It  must  have  been  very  inconvenient,"  said 
Flora.  "  Imagine  it !  " 

"It  would  have  been  worse  than  inconvenient 
to  live  below  in  the  valley.  A  rich  noble  could 
not  have  been  sure  of  keeping  any  precious  thing 
his  house  held; — unless  his  retainers  were  very  nu 
merous  and  always  on  duty;  and  in  that  case  the 
lands  would  have  corne  by  the  worst.  The  only 
really  secure  places,  Maggie,  were  the  religious 
houses." 

"What  dreadful  times !  "  said  Flora. 

"  So  these  stories  shew  them." 


202  PINE   NEEDLES 

"  Uncle  Eden,"  said  Esther,  "  it  is  time  to  go  in 
and  get  ready  for  dinner." 

"  Is  it  ?  0  this  pine  wood  is  better  than  dinner ! 
Look  how  the  light  is  coming  red  through  the  boles 
of  the  trees!  Feel  this  air  that  is  playing  about 
my  face !  Smell  the  pines !  " 

"  But  you  will  want  dinner,  Uncle  Eden,  all  the 
same,  and  it  will  be  ready." 

"Well — "  said  Mr.  Murray,  rousing  himself  so 
far  as  to  get  upon  one  elbow. 

"  Where  shall  we  go  for  our  reading  to-morrow 
afternoon  ?  "  said  Maggie. 

"The  Lookout  rock" — suggested  Meredith. 

"  Do  you  like  that,  Uncle  Eden  ?  " 

"  I  like  it  all,  Maggie.  If  to-morrow  is  like  to 
day,  I  think  the  Lookout  rock  will  be  very  enjoy 
able." 

"  And  then  you  can  look  at  the  sky  while  you 
are  talking  to  us,"  said  Maggie  comfortably. 

"  Why  precisely  at  the  sky  ? "  Meredith  asked 
laughing. 

"  0  it's  so  beautiful  up  there  ! — sometimes." 

They  sauntered  slowly  back  to  the  house,  through 
the  sweet  pines,  under  the  illuminating  red  rays 
which  were  coming  level  against  the  tree-stems. 
Then  out  of  the  wood  and  among  the  flower-beds 
and  shrubbery  surrounding  the  house;  with  the 
open  view  of  sky  and  river,  purple-brown  and  rud 
dy  gold  lights  flowing  upon  the  sides  of  the  hills, 
reflecting  the  western  brilliance,  which  yet  was 
warm  and  rich  rather  than  dazzling. 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  203 

"  I  never  saw  such  a  place  as  this ! "  exclaimed 
Meredith  for  the  fourth  or  fifth  time. 

"  The  world  is  a  wonderful  place  generally,"  ob 
served  Mr.  Murray  thoughtfully.  "  Kich — rich !  *  the 
riches  of  his  grace,'  and  the  riches  of  his  wisdom." 

They  were  a  very  happy  party  at  dinner.  Fen- 
ton,  it  is  true,  came  out  singularly  in  the  conversa 
tion,  and  gave  a  number  of  details  respecting  life 
at  school  and  his  views  of  life  in  the  world.  Mr. 
Murray's  answers  however  were  so  humourous  and 
so  wise  and  sweet  at  the  same  time,  that  it  seemed 
Fenton  only  furnished  a  text  for  the  most  pleasant 
discourse.  And  after  dinner  Maggie  got  out  stere 
oscopic  views,  and  she  and  others  delighted  them 
selves  with'a  new  look  at  the  Middle  ages. 

"  What  a  strange  thing  it  must  be,"  said  Mere 
dith,  "  to  live  where  every  farm  and  every  church 
has  a  history;  of  course  every  village." 

"Haven't  farms  and  villages  in  our  country  a 
history  ?  "  Maggie  inquired. 

"  No,"  said  Esther.     "  Of  course  not." 

"A  few,"  said  Mr.  Murray.  "Such  New  Eng 
land  farms  for  instance  as  still  bear  the  names 
'  Lonesome ' — and  '  Scrabblehard.'  But  the  histo 
ries  are  not  very  old,  and  refer  to  nothing  more 
picturesque  than  the  struggles  of  the  early  settlers." 

"  What  struggles  ?  "  Maggie  wanted  to  know. 

"Struggles  for  life.  With  the  hard  soil,  with  the 
hard  climate,  and  with  the  wild  Indians.  But  such 
struggles,  Maggie,  left  an  inheritance  of  strength, 
patience  and  daring,  to  their  children." 


204  PINE   NEEDLES 

"Why  haven't  we  stories  like  those  of  the 
Saxons  ? " 

"  Why !  "  exclaimed  Fen  ton  impatiently,  "  are 
you  such  a  simple  ?  There  was  nothing  here  but 
red  Indians  till  a  little  while  ago." 

"We  have  not  been  a  nation  for  more  than  a 
hundred  years,  Maggie,"  said  Meredith. 

"And  before  that,  were  the  Indians  here  at 
Mosswood  ?  " 

"  No,  no,"  said  Fentoii.  "  You  had  better  study 
history." 

"As  you  have,"  put  in  his  uncle,  "won't  you  tell 
Maggie  when  the  first  settlements  of  the  English 
were  made  in  America?" 

However,  Fenton  could  not. 

"In  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century,  it 
was,  Maggie,  that  the  first  colonies  were  established 
here.  The  Dutch  came  to  New  York,  and  the  Pu 
ritans  to  New  England,  and  a  little  earlier,  the 
English  colonists  to  Virginia.  We  are  a  young 
country." 

"Is  it  better  to  be  a  young  country,  or  to  be  an 
old  one?" 

"  The  young  country  has  its  life  before  it,"  said 
Mr.  Murray  smiling; — "like  a  young  girl." 

"  How,  Uncle  Eden  ?  " 

"  She  has  the  chance  still  to  make  it  noble  and 
beautiful." 

"  We  can't  have  these  grand  old  castles,  though," 
said  Meredith,  looking  at  the  view  of  Sonneck. 

"  Those  are  the  picturesque  scars  remaining  of  a 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  205 

time  which  was  not  beautiful — except  to  the  eye. 
I  suppose  it  was  that." 

The  conversation  took  a  turn  too  historical  to  be 
reported  here. 

The  next  day  was  a  worthy  successor  of  the  pre 
ceding.  All  the  party  went  to  church  in  the  morn 
ing;  on  account  of  the  distance  nobody  went  in  the 
afternoon.  Mr.  Candlish  would  not  have  his  horses 
and  servants  called  out  in  the  latter  half  of  the  day. 
The  dinner  was  early ;  and  so  then  after  dinner  the 
party  set  out  upon  a  slow  progress  to  the  Lookout 
rock ;  carrying  Bibles,  and  Meredith  with  his  little 
German  volume  in  his  pocket. 

Another  such  afternoon  as  the  yesterday's  had 
been !  Warm,  still,  fragrant,  hazy ;  more  hazy  than 
ever.  The  outlines  of  the  distant  hills  were  par 
tially  veiled;  the  colours  on  the  middle  distance 
glowing,  mellow  and  soft,  all  the  sun's  glitter  be 
ing  shielded  off.  Slowly  and  enjoyingly  the  little 
company  wandered  along,  leaving  the  lawns  and 
pleasure  ground  of  flowers  behind  them ;  through 
the  cedars,  past  the  spot  where  a  day  or  two  ago 
they  had  sat  and  read  and  eaten  their  chicken  pie. 
Past  that,  and  then  up  a  winding  steep  mountain 
road  that  led  up  to  the  height  of  the  point  above. 
Just  before  the  top  was  reached  they  turned  off 
from  the  way,  towards  the  left  whence  glimpses  of 
the  river  had  been  coming  to  them,  and  after  a 
few  steps  over  stones  and  under  the  trees  which 
covered  all  the  higher  ground,  emerged  from  both 
upon  a  broad,  smooth  top  of  a  great  outlying  mass 


206  PINE   NEEDLES 

of  granite  rock  which  overhung  the  river.  Not  lit 
erally  ;  a  stone  dropped  from  the  edge  would  have 
rolled,  not  fallen,  into  the  water;  a  stone  thrown 
from  the  hand  easily  might  have  done  the  latter. 
The  precipice  was  too  sheer  to  let  any  but  those 
sitting  on  the  very  edge  of  the  rock  look  down  its 
rugged,  tree-bedecked  side;  however,  Mr.  Murray 
and  Meredith  at  once  placed  themselves  on  that  pre 
cise  edge  of  the  platform,  while  the  girls  and  Fen  ton. 
sat  down  in  what  they  considered  a  safer  position. 
A  hundred  feet  below,  just  below,  rolled  the  broad 
river;  Mosswood's  projecting  point  to  the  right  still 
shutting  off  all  view  of  the  upper  stream,  while  the 
jutting  forth  of  Gee's  Point  below  on  the  other 
side,  equally  cut  off  the  southern  reach  of  the  river. 
The  trees  at  hand  right  and  left,  above  arid  below, 
standing  in  autumn's  gay  colours;  the  hillsides  and 
curves  of  the  opposite  shore  shewing  the  same  hues 
more  mild  under  the  veil  of  haze  and  the  distance. 
Not  a  leaf  fluttered  on  its  stem,  in  the  deep  still 
ness  ;  but  far  down  below  one  could  hear  the  soft 
lapping  of  the  water  as  it  flowed  past  the  rocks. 
The  stillness  and  the  light  filled  up  the  measure  of 
each  other's  beauty. 

For  a  while  everybody  was  silent.  There  was  a 
spell  of  nature,  which  even  the  young  people  did 
not  care  to  break.  Flora  drew  a  long  breath,  at 
last,  and  then  Maggie  spoke. 

"  Uncle  Eden — we  came  here  to  talk." 

"Did  we?" 

"I  thought  we  did, — to  talk  and  to  read." 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  207 

"Nature  is  doing  some  talking,  and  we  are 
listening." 

"  What  does  Nature  say  ?  " 

"Do  you  hear  nothing?" 

Maggie  thought  she  did,  and  yet  she  could  not 
have  told  what.  "  It  is  not  very  plain,  Uncle 
Eden,"  she  remarked. 

"It  becomes  plainer  and  plainer  the  older  you 
grow,  Maggie, — that  is,  supposing  you  keep  your 
ears  open." 

"But  I  would  like  to  know  what  your  ears  hear, 
Uncle  Eden." 

"It  will  be  more  profitable  to  go  into  the  sub 
jects  you  wanted  to  discuss.  What  are  they  ?  " 

"I  made  a  list  of  them,  Uncle  Eden,"  said  Mag 
gie,  foisting  a  crumpled  bit  of  paper  out  of  her 
pocket.  "Uncle  Eden,  Ditto  read  to  us  some  sto 
ries  which  you  didn't  hear, — it  was  just  before  you 
came, — about  poor  people  who  gave  the  only  pen 
nies  they  had  to  pay  for  sending  missionaries,  and 
went  without  their  Sunday  lunch  to  have  a  penny 
to  give;  and  Flora  said  she  thought  it  was  wrong; 
and  we  couldn't  decide  how  much  it  was  right  to  do." 

"  It  is  a  delicate  question." 

"Well  how  much  ought  one,  Uncle  Eden?" 

"You  do  not  want  to  go  without  your  lunch?" 

"No  sir.— Ought  I,  Uncle  Eden?" 

"  My  dear,  the  Lord's  rule  is,  *  Every  man  accord 
ing  as  he  purposeth  in  his  heart,  so  let  him  give.' 
What  you  want  to  give,  that  is  what  the  Lord 
likes  to  receive." 


208  PINE   NEEDLES 

"Don't  he  like  to  receive  anything  but  what  we 
like  to  give?" 

"He  says, — 'The  Lord  loveth  a  cheerful  giver.'" 

There  was  a  pause. 

"But  Mr.  Murray,"  said  Flora,  "isn't  there  such 
a  thing  as  a  duty  of  giving?" 

"There  is  such  a  thing." 

"That  is  what  we  want  to  know.  What  is  it? 
What  is  the  duty,  I  mean." 

"What  does  the  Bible  say  it  is,  you  mean?" 

"Yes  sir,  certainly." 

"  I  am  afraid  you  will  think  the  rule  a  sweeping 
one.  The  Lord  said,  'This  is  my  commandment, 
that  ye  love  one  another  as  I  have  loved  you.' " 

Another  pause. 

"But  we  were  talking  of  giving,  Mr.  Murray." 

"  Love  will  give,  where  it  is  needful." 

"But  will  nothing  but  love  give ?  " 

"Not  to  the  Lord." 

"To  what  then?"  said  Flora  hastily. 

"To  custom — to  public  opinion — to  entreaty — to 
conscience — to  fear — to  kindness  of  heart." 

"And  isn't  that  right?" 

"It  is  not  giving  to  the  Lord." 

"Well,  Mr.  Murray — take  it  so;  how  much  ought 
one  to  give,  as  you  say,  to  the  Lord  ?  " 

"All." 

"And  be  a  beggar!"  said  Flora  quickly. 

"No;  only  the  Lord's  steward." 

"That  is  exactly  what  I  thought  Mr.  Murray 
would  say,"  said  Meredith. 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  209 

"Then  it  comes  back  to  the  first  question,  Mr. 
Murray.  Suppose  I  am  a  steward ;  how  much  must 
I  give  away  ?  out  of  rny  hand  ?  " 

"  If  you  are  a  good  steward,  your  question  will 
be  different.  It  will  rather  run  thus — '  What  does 
my  Master  want  me  to  do  with  this  money?'  and 
if  you  are  a  loving  servant,  naturally  the  things 
which  are  dear  to  your  Master's  heart  will  be  dear 
to  yours." 

"You  are  speaking  in  generals,  Mr.  Murray," 
said  Flora  frettedly;  "come  to  details,  and  then  I 
shall  know.  What  objects  are  dear  to  his  heart  ?  " 

"  Don't  you  know  that,  Miss  Flora  ?  " 

"  No,  I  don't  think  I  do.  Please  to  answer,  Mr. 
Murray,  What  are  the  objects,  as  you  say,  dear  to 
his  heart?" 

"  All  the  people  he  died  for." 

Flora  paused  again. 

"  I  can't  reach  all  those  people — "  she  said  softly. 

"No.  Do  good  to  all  those  who  come  .within 
your  reach." 

"  What  sort  of  good  ?  " 

"Every  sort  they  need,"  said  Mr.  Murray,  smiling. 

"Do  you  think  it  is  wrong  to  wear  diamonds, 
Mr.  Murray?" 

"  Certainly  not, — if  you  think  the  money  will 
serve  the  Lord  best  in  that  way,  and  if  your  love 
to  him  can  express  itself  best  so." 

A  muttered  growl  from  Fenton  expressive  of  ex 
treme  disgust,  was  just  not  distinct  enough  to  call 
for  rebuke. 


210  PINE    NEEDLES 

"  Then  I  suppose,  according  to  that,  I  am  never 
to  buy  a  silk  dress  that  is  at  all  expensive,"  said 
Flora,  the  colour  mounting  into  her  handsome  face. 
"And  costly  furniture  of  course  must  be  wrong, 
and  everything  else  that  is  costly." 

"Your  conclusions  —  not  mine,  Miss  Flora/'  re 
marked  Mr.  Murray  good-humouredly.  "  It  is  a 
matter  of  loving  stewardship;  and  love  easily  finds 
its  way  to  its  ends,  always." 

"And  Meredith  wants  to  know  what  he  shall  do 
with  Meadow  Park,"  said  Maggie. 

"  Yes.  Ah,  Mr.  Murray,  do  say  something  to 
stop  him," .  added  Flora.  "  Do  not  let  him  spoil 
Meadow  Park!" 

"  To  turn  the  Pavilion  into  a  pretty  little  church, 
would  spoil  nothing,  Miss  Flora,  as  it  seems  to  me." 

"  No,  but  that  is  not  all.  Meredith  is  persuaded 
that  he  must  make  the  place  a  home  for  old  women, 
and  a  refuge  for  sick  people,  and  fill  it  with  loafers 
generally.  Mamma  and  I  will  have  to  run  away 
and  be  without  any  home  at  all;  and  don't  you 
think  he  owes  something  to  us  ?  " 

"  I  have  not  decided  upon  anything,  Mr.  Murray," 
said  Meredith,  smiling,  though  he  was  very  earnest. 
"  I  just  wish  I  knew  what  I  had  best  do." 

"Pray  for  direction.  And  then  watch  for  the 
answer." 

"How  would  the  answer  come,  Mr.  Murray?" 
asked  Flora. 

"  He  will  know  when  he  gets  it.  Come,  Mere 
dith, — read." 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  211 

"About  the  man  with  the  catechism?"  said 
Maggie. 

"If  you  like.  It  will  be  a  change  from  the 
Saxon  times,"  said  Meredith.  And  he  wheeled 
about  a  little  and  reclined  upon  the  rock,  so  as 
to  turn  his  face  towards  his  hearers — "But  what 
a  delicious  place  to  read  and  talk,  Mr.  Murray!" 

"  Nothing  can  be  better." 

"This  story  begins  with  Pastor  Harms'  account 
of  part  of  one  of  the  Mission  festivals  that  used  to 
be  held  at  Hermannsburg  every  year." 

"Will  that  be  interesting?"  said  Flora. 

"  Listen,  and  see.  I  pass  over  the  account  of 
the  first  day." 


212  PINE   NEEDLES 


CHAPTEK   XIY. 

"  '  The  first  day's  celebration  of  our  Mission  fes 
tival  was  at  an  end.  It  was  then  not  early,  but 
still  on  until  late  in  the  night  the  sounds  of  the 
songs  of  praise  and  thankfulness  were  to  be  heard 
in  the  houses,  from  the  parsonage  out  to  the  fur 
thest  outlying  houses  of  the  peasants,  and  so  it 
was  also  in  the  surrounding  villages;  for  the  par 
ish  village  could  by  no  means  accommodate  all  the 
guests  who  had  come  to  the  festival,  albeit  not 
only  the  chambers  and  dwelling-rooms  but  also 
the  hay-lofts  were  made  lodging  places  for  the 
sleepers.  And  that  was  a  blessed  evening,  when 
so  many  brethren  and  sisters  from  far  and  near 
could  refresh  themselves  with  one  another's  com 
pany  and  pour  out  their  hearts  together.  I  thank 
God  that  so  many  pastors  and  teachers  were  come 
too,  and  also  our  faithful  superintendent  was  not 
wanting;  it  is  right  that  the  heads  of  the  church 
should  not  be  missing  at  such  a  festival. 

"  *  The  next  day,  and  we  had  prayed  the  Lord 
to  give  us  good  weather  for  it,  we  were  to  go  to 
a  place  in  the  midst  of  the  lonely  heath,  called 
TiefenthaT" 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  213 

"  What  does  that  mean  ?  "  Maggie  interrupted. 

"  Tief  means  deep.     Thai  means  valley." 

'"Deep  valley,'"  said  Maggie.  "But  I  do  not 
understand  what  a  heath  is." 

"  Naturally.  We  do  not  have  them  in  this  coun 
try,  that  ever  I  heard  of,"  said  Meredith. 

"Neither  here  nor  in  England,"  said  Mr.  Murray. 
"  For  miles  and  miles  the  Luneburger  heath  is  an 
ocean  of  purple  bloom ;  that  is,  in  the  time  when 
the  heather  is  in  blossom.  But  there  are  woods 
also  in  places,  and  in  other  places  lovely  valleys 
break  the  spread  of  the  purple  heather,  where  grass 
and  trees  and  running  water  make  lovely  pictures. 
Sometimes  one  comes  to  a  hill  covered  with  trees. 
And  here  and  there  you  find  solitary  houses  and 
bits  of  farms;  but  scattered  apart  from  each  other, 
so  that  great  tracts  of  the  heath  are  perfectly  lone 
ly  and  still;  you  see  nothing  and  hear  nothing  liv 
ing,  except  perhaps  some  lapwings  in  the  air,  and 
a  lizard  now  and  then,  and  humming  beetles,  and 
maybe  here  and  there  some  frogs  where  there  hap 
pens  to  be  a  wet  place,  and  perhaps  a  land-rail; 
elsewhere  a  general,  soft,  confused  humming  and 
buzzing  of  creatures  that  you  cannot  see,  and  the 
purple  waves  of  heather  only  interrupted  here  and 
there  by  a  group  of  firs  or  a  growth  of  bushes 
along  the  edge  of  a  ditch." 

"0  Uncle  Eden,"  cried  Maggie,  "have  you  been 
there !  And  do  you  know  the  village,  too  ?  " 

"  The  village  ?  Pastor  Harms'  village,  do  you 
mean,  Hermannsburg?  Yes.  It  is  like  many  oth- 


214  PINE   NEEDLES 

ers.  Two  long  lines  of  cottages,  the  little  river 
Oerze  cutting  it  in  two,  beautiful  old  trees  shading 
it, — that  is  the  village.  The  cottages  are  not  near 
each  other;  gardens  and  fields  lie  between;  and 
at  the  gable  of  every  house  is  a  wooden  horse 
or  horse's  head;  from  the  old  Saxon  times,  you 
know.  No  dirt  and  no  squalor  and  no  beggars 
nor  misery  to  be  seen  in  Hermannsburg.  That, 
I  suppose,  is  much  owing  to  Pastor  Harms'  in 
fluence." 

"Thank  you,  Uncle  Eden,"  said  Maggie  with 
a  sigh  of  intense  interest; — "now  you  can  go  on, 
Ditto.  They  were  going  out  into  the  heath.  All 
the  people  ?  " 

"I  suppose  so.  'To  a  place  in  the  midst  of  the 
heath  solitudes,  called  Tiefenthal.  Why?  I  had 
not  told  them  that;  I  wanted  to  tell  it  to  them 
first  of  all  on  the  spot.  I  had  another  reason  be 
sides,  though ;  I  wanted  to  have  the  sun  beat  a  lit 
tle  in  African  fashion  on  the  heads  of  the  guests  at 
our  festival,  so  that  our  brethren  in  Africa  might 
not  be  the  only  ones  hot !  So  at  nine  o'clock  the 
next  morning  the  great  crowd  of  those  who  were 
to  make  the  pilgrimage  with  us  from  Hermanns- 
burg,  were  assembled  at  the  Mission  house  under 
the  banner  of  the  Cross,  which  fluttered  joyously 
from  the  high  flagstaff.  It  was  hard  for  me  not  to 
be  able  to  walk  with  the  rest,  but  I  was  only  just 
recovered  from  a  severe  illness.  A  pilgrimage  is 
the  pleasantest  going  on  earth  to  me.  One  can 
sing  by  the  way  so  joyfully  with  the  hosts  that  are 


AND    OLD    YARNS.  215 

moving  along;  one  can  talk  so  cordially  and  so 
familiarly  about  the  kingdom  of  God  in  the  crowd 
of  the  brethren;  and  now  and  then  one  gets  a 
chance  by  a  shallow  ditch  to  tumble  one  of  one's 
fellow  pilgrims  over,  especially  one  of  the  children; 
I  had  to  do  without  all  that  and  get  into  a  wag 
gon.  When  I  came  to  the  Mission  house,  the  pro 
cession  set  itself  in  motion  towards  the  high  grounds 
of  the  heath.  With  sounding  of  trumpets  and  amid 
songs  of  praise  the  crowds  travelled  on,  for  nearly 
two  hours  long,  all  the  while  mounting  higher  and 
higher,  and  truly,  for  God  had  heard  our  prayer, 
under  a  burning  sunshine.  Many  a  one  had  to 
sweat  for  it  soundly,  even  I  in  the  waggon.  It 
was  a  picturesque  procession ;  a  whole  long  row  of 
carriages,  and  these  crowds  of  people ;  the  solitary 
heath  had  become  all  alive.  At  last  a  not  incon 
siderable  height  was  reached,  where  the  ground 
fell  off  suddenly  into  a  steep,  precipitous  dell.  This 
was  Tiefenthal.  It  is  a  very  narrow  valley,  or 
rather  a  cut  between  two  hills,  one  of  which  is 
bare;  the  other  covered  with  a  luxuriant  growth 
of  evergreens.  Below  stands  an  empty  bee  enclo 
sure,  called  the  Pastor's  Beefield,  because  it  as  well 
as  the  wood-covered  hill  belongs  to  the  pastor  of 
Hermannsburg.  From  all  the  farms  round  about 
hosts  of  pilgrims  were  coming  at  the  same  time 
with  us,  travelling  along ;  and  like  the  brooks  which 
after  a  thunder-shower  plunge  down  from  the  hills 
to  the  lower  ground,  even  so  the  waves  of  human 
ity  rolled  towards  Tiefenthal.  At  last  then  I  took 


216  PINE   NEEDLES 

my  stand  on  the  slope  of  the  bare  hill,  surrounded  by 
the  brethren  who  bore  the  trumpets  in  their  hands, 
the  blast  of  which  sounded  mightily  through  the 
dell  and  broke  in  a  quivering  echo  upon  the  oppo 
site  hill.  Countless  hosts  lay  upon  the  two  slopes 
and  in  the  bottom  of  the  dell,  and  out  of  many 
thousand  throats  the  song  of  praise  to  the  Lord  rose 
into  the  blue  dome  of  the  sky. 

"  '  First  was  sung,  with  and  without  accompani 
ment  of  the  trumpets,  the  lovely  hymn, 

"Rejoice,  ye  Christians  all, 
His  Son  by  God  is  given,"  etc. 

to  the  glorious  melody,  "  Aus  meines  Herzens 
Grund ! "  Then,  when  the  mighty  sounds  died 
away,  followed  the  preaching,  upon  Hebrews  xi, 
32-40.'" 

uEead  that  passage,  Maggie,"  said  her  uncle. 

Maggie  read. 

'"And  what  shall  I  more  say?  for  the  time 
would  fail  me  to  tell  of  Gideon,  and  of  Barak,  and 
of  Samson,  and  of  Jephthah;  of  David  also,  and 
Samuel,  and  of  the  prophets :  who  through  faith  sub 
dued  kingdoms,  wrought  righteousness,  obtained 
promises,  stopped  the  mouths  of  lions,  quenched 
the  violence  of  fire,  escaped  the  edge  of  the  sword, 
out  of  weakness  were  made  strong,  waxed  valiant 
in  fight,  turned  to  flight  the  armies  of  the  aliens. 
Women  received  their  dead  raised  to  life  again: 
and  others  were  tortured,  not  accepting  deliver 
ance  ;  that  they  might  obtain  a  better  resurrec- 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  217 

tion:  and  others  had  trial  of  cruel  mockings  and 
scourgings,  yea,  moreover  of  bonds  and  imprison 
ment:  they  were  stoned,  they  were  sawn  asunder, 
were  tempted,  were  slain  with  the  sword:  they 
wandered  about  in  sheepskins  and  goatskins;  be 
ing  destitute,  afflicted,  tormented;  (of  whom  the 
world  was  not  worthy ;)  they  wandered  in  deserts, 
and  in  mountains,  and  in  dens  and  caves  of  the 
earth.' — Uncle  Eden,  that  was  a  great  while  ago, 
wasn't  it  ?  " 

"  That  was." 

"But  I  mean — people  don't  do  so  now,  do  they?" 

"  Not  here,  just  now,  in  America.  But  nothing 
is  changed  in  human  nature  or  the  relations  of  the 
two  parties,  since  the  Lord  said  to  the  serpent,  '  I 
will  put  enmity  between  thee  and  the  woman,  and 
between  thy  seed  and  her  seed.' " 

"  But  does  that  mean  that,  Uncle  Eden  ?  I  thought 
the  seed  of  the  woman  was  Christ?" 

"It  is.  But  the  devil  fights  against  Christ  in 
the  persons  of  his  people ;  and  the  *  seed  of  the  ser 
pent,'  the  children  of  the  devil,  hate  the  children  of 
God,  from  Cain's  time  down.  '  If  they  have  perse 
cuted  me  they  will  also  persecute  you,'  the  Lord 
said." 

"There  is  no  persecution  here,  though,  in  this 
country,  Mr.  Murray  ?  "  said  Flora. 

"  Not  persecution  with  fire  and  sword.  But  noth 
ing  is  changed,  Miss  Flora.  It  will  be  fire-  and 
sword  again,  just  so  soon  as  the  devil  sees  his  op 
portunity.  So  all  history  assures  us.  Go  on  Mere- 


218  PINE   NEEDLES 

dith;  let  us  see  what  Pastor  Harms  made  of  his 
text — or  doesn't  he  tell  ?  " 

"I'll  go  on,  sir;  and  you'll  see.  'As  you  have 
just  heard  out  of  the  holy  Scriptures,  so  it  has  been, 
my  dear  friends,  with  the  faithful  witnesses  and 
martyrs  of  the  truth ;  hacked  to  pieces,  run  through 
the  body,  slain  with  the  sword,  or  left  to  wander  in 
the  deserts,  on  the  mountains,  in  dens  and  caves 
of  the  earth,  of  whom  the  world  was  not  worthy. 
Even  in  the  New  Testament  we  read  how  Peter 
and  Paul  had  to  suffer  imprisonment,  how  Ste 
phen  was  stoned,  James  beheaded  with  the  sword ; 
how  the  Jews  persecuted  all  the  confessors  of  the 
most  blessed  Saviour,  dragged  them  out  of  their 
houses,  threw  them  into  prisons,  and  took  joy  in 
stoning  them.  And  even  as  the  Jews  began  it,  the 
heathen  have  carried  it  on;  and  not  hundreds  or 
thousands,  but  many  hundred  thousands  of  Chris 
tians  in  the  ten  great  Christian  persecutions  sealed 
their  belief  in  the  Lord  Jesus  and  their  faithful 
confession  of  his  holy  name  with  their  blood.  In 
our  last  year's  mission  festival  in  Miiden,  I  told 
you  how  the  holy  apostles  Peter  and  Paul  met 
their  death  like  heroes  and  martyrs;  our  beloved 
Hermannsburg  church  is  named  after  them ;  and  I 
told  you  about  Saint  Lawrence,  after  whom  the 
church  in  Miiden  is  called.  "And  to-day,"  you  are 
questioning,  "to-day  are  you  going  to  tell  us  about 
martyrs  again?  We  conclude  so,  from  the  text 
you  have  chosen  I  But  wherefore  always  about 
martyrs?" — My  beloved,  I  have  a  special  love  to 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  219 

the  martyrs;  and  I  do  not  know  how  it  happens,  at 
every  mission  festival  they  come  with  special  vivid 
ness  before  my  mind.  I  believe  it  arises  from  this ; 
that  I  am  persuaded  the  ever-growing  zeal  for  mis 
sions  among  all  earnest  Christians  is  a  token  that 
before  long  the  church  of  Christ  will  have  to  take 
her  flight  out  of  Europe;  and  so  the  unconscious 
effort  of  Christians  is  towards  preparing  a  place  for 
the  church  among  the  wilds  of  heathenism.  And 
therefore  I  believe  that  the  times  of  martyrdom  will 
cease  to  be  far-off  times  for  us  any  longer;  that 
the  kingdom  of  Antichrist  is  drawing  near  with 
speedier  and  speedier  steps,  is  becoming  daily  more 
powerful;  the  apostasy  from  Christ  is  becoming 
constantly  greater  and  more  decided ;  Christianity 
is  growing  more  and  more  like  a  putrid  carcass, 
and  where  the  carcass  is,  there  the  eagles  are  gath 
ered  together.  And  therefore  missions  are  becom 
ing  more  evidently  the  banner  around  which  all 
living  Christians  rally ;  for  what  is  written  in  the 
Revelation  xii,  14-17,  will  soon  receive  its  fulfil 
ment.  And  when  I  see  such  great  crowds  of  Chris 
tians  singing  praise  and  keeping  holy  day,  then  the 
thought  always  comes  to  me,  How  would  it  be,  if 
persecution  were  to  break  loose  now?  would  all 
these  be  true  witnesses  and  martyrs,  and  rather 
bear  suffering  and  yield  up  the  last  drop  of  their 
blood  and  endure  any  torments,  than  fall  away  and 
deny  Christ?  0,  and  when  I  reflect  how  mightily 
in  those  times  of  bloody  persecution  the  Christian 
church  gave  her  testimony  and  fought  and  suffered ; 


220  PINE    NEEDLES 

what  a  power  of  Faith,  Hope  and  Love  made  itself 
known,  that  could  shout  for  joy  at  the  stake;  and 
when  I  think  how  cold,  how  lukewarm,  how  love 
less  Christianity  is  now — I  could  almost  wish  for  a 
mighty  persecution  to  come,  to  break  up  the  rotten 
peace  of  Christians  who  have  grown  easy  and  lux 
urious  and  to  arouse  again  the  right  heroism  of  the 
soldiers  of  God. 

"'It  is  not  only  in  the  times  of  the  Jews  and 
the  Romans,  at  the  first  founding  of  the  Christian 
church,  that  such  mighty  battles  of  heroes  have 
been  fought ;  the  dear  and  blessed  time  of  the  Ref 
ormation  has  had  its  martyrs,  who  for  the  pure 
word  and  true  sacrament  of  our  beloved  Lutheran 
church  staked  their  persons  and  lives.  Who  does 
not  know  those  two  faithful  disciples,  who  amid 
songs  of  praise  were  burned  at  the  stake  at  Co 
logne  on  the  Rhine?  that  Heinrich  von  Zutphen, 
who  had  to  give  up  his  life  in  Ditmarsh?  those 
thousands  who  were  murdered  or  burned  by  the 
Catholic  Inquisition  ?  those  thousands  who  had  to 
pine  away  in  the  prisons  and  cloisters  of  the  Cath 
olics?  without  reckoning  the  hundreds  of  thousands 
in  the  religious  wars  stirred  up  by  the  Catholics  who 
made  the  battle-fields  fat  with  their  blood  and  have 
died  for  the  faith  of  their  church  ?  And  now  I  will 
tell  you  why  I  have  brought  you  here  to-day  to 
this  Tiefenthal.  We  stand  upon  holy  ground  here ; 
upon  ground  of  the  martyrs.  Hear  what  your  fa 
thers  suffered  for  the  sake  of  the  pure,  true  word 
and  sacrament. 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  221 

"  *  The  story  that  I  am  going  to  tell  to  you  must 
have  been  acted  out  somewhere  between  1521  and 
1530.  For  in  the  chronicle  where  I  have  read  the 
story,  mention  is  made  of  the  Diet  at  Speier;  but 
nothing  is  said  of  the  Diet  at  Augsburg.' " 

"  Stop,  Ditto,  please,"  said  Maggie.  "  What's  a 
diet  ?  " 

"The  supreme  council  of  the  German  empire, 
composed  of  princes  and  representatives  of  inde 
pendent  cities  of  the  empire.  The  famous  Diet  of 
Augsburg  was  held  in  1530." 

"  What  was  it  famous  for  ?  " 

"  Famous  for  an  open,  bold  confession  and  decla 
ration  of  the  Protestant  faith,  by  a  few  Protestant 
princes,  in  the  midst  of  the  crowd  of  Catholics  as 
sembled  at  the  Diet.  Well,  Meredith—" 

'"Nothing  is  said  of  the  Diet  at  Augsburg.  And 
certainly  some  mention  would  have  been  made  of 
it,  if  it  had  already  taken  place,  since  our  beloved 
princes,  the  dukes  Ernst  and  Francis  of  Luneburg, 
had  their  share  in  the  precious  confession  of  faith. 
At  that  time  there  was  in  Hermannsburg  a  young 
Catholic  pastor,  descended  from  a  noble  patrician 
family ;  he  was  called  Christopher  Grunhagen,  and 
was  a  kind-hearted  man.  One  day — ' " 

"  Stop  a  minute,  Ditto.  Some  people  were  Cath 
olics  then,  arid  some  were  Protestants  ?  " 

"  Why  that  is  how  they  are  now,  Maggie,"  said 
her  sister. 

"  But  I  mean,  there — in  Germany." 

"It  is  so  still  in  Germany,"  said  Meredith.     "But 


222  PINE   NEEDLES 

then  was  just  the  beginning  of  the  Reformation, 
Muggie.  Luther  was  preaching,  and  the  world  was 
in  a  stir  generally." 

" '  One  day  there  comes  to  Pastor  Grunhagen  a 
sort  of  artisan  fellow,  who  asked  for  a  bit  of  bread. 
It  was  in  winter  time,  and  the  poor  man  was  quite 
benumbed  with  cold.  Pastor  Grunhagen  took  pity 
on  him,  had  him  served  with  food  and  drink,  and 
made  him  sit  down  in  the  Flett  (that  is,  the  open 
hall  of  the  house  with  its  low  fireplace)  that  he 
might  also  warm  his  cold  limbs.  After  the  man  had 
eaten,  not  forgetting  to  pray  either,  he  stretched 
his  legs  comfortably  down  by  the  warm  hearth, 
and  then  drew  a  small  MS.  book  out  of  his  pocket, 
in  which  he  began  to  read  with  eager  and  devout  at 
tention.  Grunhagen  wondered  that  the  man  could 
read,  and  more  especially,  that  he  could  read  writ 
ing.  Now,  indeed,  an  artisan  would  take  it  ill  if 
anybody  were  surprised  to  find  him  able  to  read. 
But  the  fact  that  all  of  us,  even  the  poorest  and  the 
smallest,  can  read  now,  is  just  one  of  the  blessings 
of  the  Reformation,  under  which  the  first  schools 
for  the  people  were  established.  In  those  days  only 
scholars  and  priests  could  read,  and  the  laity,  even 
the  nobles,  knew  nothing  about  it.  So  Grunhagen 
steps  up  curiously  to  the  remarkable  artisan  who 
knows  so  much  as  to  read,  and  asks  him,  "  Pray 
what  have  you  there  ?  "  For  all  answer,  the  man 
hands  him  the  book.  Grunhagen  takes  it  and  reads 
and  reads,  and  the  more  he  reads  the  more  eagerly 
and  attentively  he  devours  what  he  finds  there.  It 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  223 

was  a  copy  of  Luther's  smaller  catechism.  Like  a 
lightning  flash,  darts  through  his  soul  the  thought, 
"  What  stands  in  this  book  is  THE  TRUTH."  He  asks 
his  guest  now,  where  he  has  come  from  ?  The  an 
swer  is,  "  From  Wittenberg ;  I  have  heard  Luther 
preach  there,  and  I  brought  away  this  catechism 
with  me." 

"  '  Why  he  had  a  written  copy  of  the  catechism 
and  not  a  printed  one,  I  cannot  tell  you;  perhaps 
he  had  not  been  able  to  buy  a  printed  copy  and 
had  been  at  the  pains  of  writing  it  out ;  but  that  is 
not  said  in  the  chronicle.  And  now,  while  I  am 
speaking  of  the  catechism,  I  will  shew  you  also 
that  I  am  a  scholar.  Therefore  know,  that  Luther 
printed  his  smaller  catechism  in  the  year  of  grace 
1529;  because  in  the  two  years  previous  he  had 
been  travelling  about  all  through  Saxony,  exam 
ining  the  churches;  and  had  found,  that  the  pas 
tors  were  so  stupid  that  they  did  not  know  even 
the  principal  things.  Therefore,  and  surely  with 
the  assistance  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  he  wrote  the 
small  catechism,  which  I  hold  to  be  the  best  of  all 
human  books.  Before  that,  however,  he  had  al 
ready  written  some  similar  works;  for  example,  a 
short  exposition  on  the  ten  commandments,  the 
Creed,  and  the  Pater  noster;  from  which,  on  ac 
count  of  its  remarkable  quality,  I  will  quote  a 
little.  So  in  it  Luther  says — "  The  first  command 
ment  is  transgressed  by  every  one  who  in  his  diffi 
culties  turns  to  sorcery,  the  black  art  of  the  devil's 
allies;  every  one  who  makes  that  use  of  letters, 


224  PINE   NEEDLES 

signs,  words,  herbs,  charms  and  the  like;  who 
ever  uses  divining  rods,  treasure-conjurings,  clair 
voyance  and  the  like;  whoever  orders  his  work 
and  his  life  according  to  lucky  days,  sky  tokens, 
and  the  sayings  of  soothsayers.  The  third  com 
mandment  is  transgressed  by  those  who  eat,  drink, 
play,  dance  and  carry  on  unholy  doings;  by  those 
who  in  indolence  sleep  away  the  time  of  divine 
service,  or  miss  it,  or  spend  it  in  pleasure  drives, 
or  walks,  or  in  useless  chatter ;  by  whoever  works 
or  does  business  without  special  need;  by  who 
ever  does  not  pray,  does  not  think  on  Christ's  suf 
ferings,  does  not  repent  of  his  sins  and  long  for 
mercy ;  and  who  therefore  only  in  outward  things, 
as  dressing,  eating,  and  posture-taking,  keeps  the 
day  holy." 

"  '  I  have  brought  forward  this  proof  of  learning 
only  to  shew  you  that  good  people  are  not  quite  so 
simple  as  perhaps  they  look ;  and  now  I  will  go  on 
with  my  story. 

"  *  Grunhagen  was  so  delighted  with  the  dear 
catechism  that  he  says  to  the  workman,  "  Friend, 
you  must  stay  with  me  long  enough  to  let  me 
make  a  copy  of  your  MS.,  for  you  won't  get  the 
book  again  before  I  have  done  that."  The  friend 
was  very  willing  to  have  it  so;  and  now  they 
made  an  honest  exchange  one  with  the  other. 
For  the  pastor  ministered  to  the  poor  starved  and 
frozen  body  of  the  artisan,  and  the  artisan  minis-' 
tered  to  the  poor,  starved  and  frozen  soul  of  the 
pastor.  Day  by  day  his  accounts  grew  more  and 


AND  OLD   YARNS.  225 

more  fiery  and  spirited  about  Luther's  powerful 
preaching,  about  the  many  thousands  who  were 
streaming  to  Wittenberg  to  hear  the  man  of  God, 
about  the  German  Bible  which  Luther  had  trans 
lated,  about  the  glorious  songs  of  praise  which  the 
Lutherans  sung,  about  the  pure  Sacrament  in  both 
kinds;  that  is,  that  in  Wittenberg  both  the  bread 
and  the  wine  were  given  to  the  communicants, 
and  not  the  bread  merely,  as  is  done  by  the  Pa 
pists  against  the  Lord's  commandment.  He  told 
how,  amidst  all  the  rage  of  his  foes,  Luther  was  so 
joyful  and  brave,  that  on  one  occasion  he  said  to 
the  electoral  prince  of  Saxony,  who  he  saw  had 
become  anxious,  "  I  do  not  ask  your  princely  grace 
to  protect  me;  for  I  am  under  much  higher  protec 
tion,  which  will  take  good  care  of  what  concerns 
me."  Griinhagen's  whole  soul  was  moved  by  these 
narrations. 

'"After  a  good  many  days  he  let  the  work 
man  go,  laden  with  gifts,  and  with  tears  in  his  eyes 
dismissed  him !  for  through  him  he  had  learned 
to  know  the  truth.  And  now  he  goes  to  study 
ing.  Soon  the  little  catechism  is  fixed  in  his  heart 
and  his  head ;  and  now  he  procures  Luther's  other 
works,  and  first  of  all,  the  New  Testament.  And 
then  he  can  conceal  it  from  himself  no  longer, 
that  the  word  of  God  and  the  Sacrament  are  basely 
falsified  in  the  Romish  church,  and  that  he  himself, 
without  knowing  it,  has  been  all  this  while  mis 
leading  the  people ;  he  who  in  his  office  as  pastor 
should  have  been  a  servant  of  God.  This  thought 
15 


226  PINE   NEEDLES 

burns  into  his  inmost  soul,  so  that  he  almost 
falls  into  despondency.  But  soon  he  finds  grace 
through  faith  in  the  dear  blood  of  Jesus  Christ. 
And  now  in  him  also  that  word  goes  into  fulfil 
ment — "  I  believed,  therefore  have  I  spoken."  He 
begins  to  preach  the  pure  word  of  God,  in  demon 
stration  of  the  Spirit  and  of  power;  he  begins  to 
give  to  communicants  the  whole,  entire  supper,  the 
emblems  of  Christ's  body  and  blood;  and  he  teaches 
the  children  the  catechism.  And  how  could  he  fail 
of  fruit !  The  parish  of  Hermannsburg  stirs  with 
life,  the  whole  region  is  waked  up,  and  thousands 
come  to  hear  God's  word.  0  that  must  have  been 
a  blessed  time,  when  the  Holy  Ghost  breathed  thus 
upon  the  dry  bones,  and  the  Light  shined  in  the 
darkness.  But  then,  too,  the  cross  could  not  fail ; 
for  on  the  baptism  of  the  Spirit  follows  always  the 
baptism  of  fire ;  and  David  in  the  very  psalm  quoted 
above  says,  "I  believed,  therefore  have  I  spoken. 
I  ivas  greatly  afflicted.'" 

" '  There  was  at  that  time  in  Hermannsburg  a 
warden,  that  is  a  steward  and  judge  in  one  person, 
who  was  called  Andreas  Ludwig  von  Feuershutz 
(from  whom  the  neighbouring  property  still  keeps 
the  name  of  Feuershutzenbostel),  a  rash,  determined 
man,  and  very  zealous  for  the  old  popish  church. 
Writing  in  those  days  did  not  amount  to  much; 
the  warden's  scribes  were  his  soldiers.  So  he  went 
to  the  pastor  and  without  any  circumlocution  for 
bade  him  to  preach  the  Lutheran  heresy,  adding, 
"  If  you  don't  stop  it,  I'll  shut  the  door  before  your 


AND   OLD    YARNS.'  227 

nose."  When  Grunhagen  rejected  this  demand  as 
an  improper  one,  and  told  him  to  attend  to  his 
office,  but  leave  the  church  to  the  pastor,  the  war 
den  grew  wrathful  and  called  Grunhagen  a  rene- 
gate  heretic ;  and  the  next  Sunday  he  actually  did 
set  his  soldiers  to  keep  the  church  doors  and  closed 
the  entrance  to  pastor  and  congregation  both.  The 
thousands  who  followed  their  pastor  were  not  un 
willing  to  use  violence  against  the  doer  of  vio 
lence;  but  Grunhagen  prevented  that,  and  tried 
to  hold  divine  service  in  his  house,  and  when 
that  also  was  interfered  with,  in  the  houses  of  the 
peasants.  But  wherever  they  might  be,  the  war 
den  would  come  with  his  soldiers  and  break  up  the 
service. 

'"And  this  went  on  for  many  a  week,  and  yet 
so  great  was  the  power  of  Griinhagen's  good  influ 
ence  over  the  believers  that  no  act  of  violence  was 
attempted  against  their  tyrants.  At  last  one  day 
the  following  peasants,  Hans  von  Hiester,  Michel 
Behrens,  and  Albrecht  Lutterloh  of  Lutterloh,  Kar- 
sten  Lange  of  Ollendorf,  and  the  great  Meyer  from 
Weesen,  came  to  Grunhagen  and  told  him  they 
knew  a  spot  in  the  heath,  still  and  solitary  and 
remote,  which  neither  high  road  nor  footpath  came 
near;  the  warden  could  not  easily  find  it  out;  "let 
us  go  there  on  Sundays  and  hear  God's  word  from 
your  mouth !  "  Arid  so  it  was  arranged.  Quietly 
one  tells  it  to  another,  and  no  one  betrays  it.  The 
next  Sunday,  while  it  is  still  night,  the  house  doors 
everywhere  open,  the  indwellers  come  out  one  by 


228  PINE   NEEDLES 

one,  and  travel  in  mist  and  darkness,  by  distant 
paths,  through  moor,  heather  and  thicket,  hither  to 
Tiefenthal.  Griiiihagen  is  there,  and  with  him  is 
his  clerk,  Gottlob ;  a  believer,  converted  by  his  pas 
tor's  means ;  and  he  carries  the  sweet  burden  of  the 
church  service :  0  my  beloved,  here  stood  Grunha- 
gen,  here  were  your  fathers  who  had  renounced 
false  idols  and  worshipped  their  Saviour  accord 
ing  to  the  pure  word  and  ordinance  he  has  given ; 
their  songs  of  praise  echoed  here,  here  they  bent 
the  knee;  for  a  long  while  your  fathers'  house  of 
God  was  here  under  the  blue  heaven;  here  were 
the  new-born  children  baptized  in  the  name  of  the 
triune  God  and  the  grown  men  and  women  were 
fed  with  the  bread  and  wine  which  mean  the  body 
and  blood  of  the  Lord,  and  so  received  new  strength 
to  mount  up  with  wings  as  eagles.  In  this  place 
your  fathers  grew  to  a  strength  of  faith  which 
wrould  waver  no  more.  But  more  trials  were  com 
ing  upon  them.  The  warden  was  struck  by  the 
sudden  quietness;  he  had  expected  that  new  at 
tempts  would  be  made  to  get  into  the  church.  He 
guessed  that  something  was  going  on,  and  could 
not  find  out  what  it  was.  So  he  set  his  soldiers 
on  to  serve  as  sleuth-hounds,  and  they  scented  the 
game  so  well  that  they  discovered  the  whole.  Then 
one  Sunday  morning  he  got  up  early  and  watched 
with  bitter  rage  to  see  how  the  people  came  out 
of  all  the  houses,  men,  women,  young  men  and 
girls,  old  men  and  children,  all  quiet  and  yet  so 
joyous,  dressed  in  their  Sunday  clothes,  and  hasten- 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  229 

ing  to  Tiefenthal.  Stealthily  he  followed  after  them ; 
and  at  their  place  of  refuge  heard  them  preach  and 
sing  and  pray.  Suddenly  he  heard  his  own  name 
spoken;  it  gave  him  a  great  shock;  he  heard  the 
pastor  praying  for  his  conversion  and  the  congre 
gation  saying  Amen.  Then  a  great  surging  and 
conflict  of  feelings  arose  in  his  brazen  heart.  But 
the  time  was  not  yet  come.  He  dashed  down  the 
tears  that  would  come  into  his  eyes,  and  let  his 
supposed  duty  get  the  victory.  Resolved  to  sup 
press  the  hated  heresy  that  had  almost  made  him 
soft,  but  too  weak  to  do  it  with  the  force  at  his 
command,  he  made  known  the  affair  to  the  justi 
ciary  of  Zelle  and  asked  for  help.  The  Zelle  justi 
ciary  nothing  loath,  next  Sunday  dispatched  two 
hundred  of  his  soldiers,  who  lay  hid  in  the  wood  till 
the  congregation  had  assembled.  Then  they  broke 
forth,  surrounded  our  fathers,  just  as  they  were 
gathered  around  their  beloved  pastor  for  the  hold 
ing  of  divine  service,  fell  first  of  all  upon  Grunha- 
gen  himself  and  the  crowd  which  pressed  round 
him,  laid  hold  of  him  and  dragged  him  off,  and  a 
hundred  others  with  him,  to  Zelle ;  with  brutal  ill- 
treatment.  There  the  captives  were  obliged  to  pass 
three  days  and  three  nights  in  the  court-yard  of  the 
official's  house,  in  snow  and  ice  (it  was  in  Novem 
ber),  and  it  was  only  with  difficulty  that  they  could 
get  a  bit  of  bread  to  eat.  Then  they  were  thrown 
into  prison ;  and  there  for  a  long  time  our  fathers 
had  to  share  the  bonds  and  imprisonment  of  God's 
faithful  servant;  but  no  threats,  no  contumely,  no 


230  PINE   NEEDLES 

distress  could  move  them  to  apostasy  from  the  faith 
they  had  confessed. 

"  *  How  long  they  lay  there  I  do  not  know.  At 
lastt  when  the  dukes  came  back  from  Augsburg,  the 
hour  of  their  freedom  struck ;  they  were  let  go,  and 
returned  to  their  homes  shedding  thankful  tears; 
the  church  was  again  opened  to  them  too,  and  the 
heroic  Grunhagen  preached  the  Gospel  to  his  peo 
ple  anew  with  fresh  power.  Then  also  struck  the 
warden's  hour  of  grace;  he  grew  tender,  and  was 
overcome  by  the  might  of  the  blessed  Gospel;  and 
whereas  he  had  formerly  been  a  zealot  for  the  mis 
taken  service  of  God,  now  he  became  one  of  the 
strongest  friends  of  the  pure  Lutheran  doctrine  in 
all  the  community.  Out  of  gratitude  the  parish 
gave  to  its  beloved  watcher  for  souls  this  Tiefen- 
thal,  with  the  wooded  hill  here,  to  be  for  all  time 
the  property  of  the  Parsonage,  which  it  still  is  to 
the  present  day.  My  beloved,  we  have  come  here 
to-day  for  pleasure ;  are  we  to  come  here  again  per 
haps  some  day  in  distress?  You  answer  possibly, 
"No,  that  is  not  to  be  apprehended;  our  times  are 
too  humane."  Yes !  they  are  humane  towards  all 
that  is  human  ;  i.  e.,  towards  banqueting  and  drink 
ing,  dissolute  living  and  deceit.  But  that  our  times 
are  not  too  humane  towards  what  is  godly,  is  testi 
fied  by  the  persecutions  directed  against  the  Lu 
therans  in  Baden  and  Nassau,  where  various  Lu 
theran  preachers  have  had  to  pay  fine  after  fine, 
and  lie  in  the  common  prison,  because  they  preach 
and  baptize  and  observe  the  communion  in  the  Lu- 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  231 

theran  manner,  and  where  too  the  preaching  must 
often  be  held  in  mountains  and  clefts  of  the  rocks, 
to  be  had  in  peace.  And  besides,  the  kingdom  of 
Antichrist  is  advancing  with  constantly  quicker 
and  more  decided  steps.  Even  now  it  everywhere 
rains  words  of  abuse  upon  the  saints,  the  praying 
people,  the  hypocrites,  the  enthusiasts,  the  mad  folk, 
and  by  whatever  other  names  beside  they  may  call 
them.  And  who  knows  how  soon  the  time  may 
come  when  the  word  will  again  be  true, — "they 
will  put  you  out  of  their  synagogues,"  and  "who 
soever  killeth  you  will  think  that  he  doeth  God  ser 
vice."  I  could  if  I  would  read  you  letters  that 
have  come  from  many  cities  and  villages,  filled 
with  such  threatenings  and  cursings  and  coarse 
words  against  me  that  they  would  fill  you  with 
astonishment.  Therefore  ask  yourselves  again  se 
riously  the  question, — would  you  also  be  ready  to 
give  money  and  blood,  body  and  life,  for  the  Lord 
Jesus  and  for  your  faith  ?  would  you  also  be  ready 
to  suffer  bonds  and  imprisonment  for  the  Lord's 
sake  ?  If  it  be  so,  that  you  could  not  or  would  not 
do  that,  then  you  are  not  worthy  to  bear  the  name 
of  Jesus  Christ;  for  whoever  hateth  not  father  and 
mother,  wife  and  child,  farm  and  farming  stock, 
and  his  own  life  also,  for  Jesus'  sake,  he  is  riot 
worthy  of  me,  the  Lord  says.  To  confess  Christ  in 
peace  and  in  pleasant  times,  that  is  easy  enough; 
but  to  do  it  through  distress  and  death,  to  stand 
fast  in  the  baptism  of  fire,  that  is  another  thing, 
Christians  of  nowadays  are  accustomed  to  easy  liv- 


232  PINE   NEEDLES 

ing;  how  would  the  cup  of  suffering  taste  to  them? 
They  are  drowned  in  delicate  and  luxurious  habits; 
how  would  they  bear  privation?  They  have  cor 
rupted  themselves  in  cowardice  and  indolence;  how 
should  they  be  strong  and  brave  under  persecution? 
And  listen  to  me  now,  you  who  are  gathered  here 
together  in  such  numbers;  what  do  you  think?  If 
the  soldiers  all  of  a  sudden  came  upon  you,  to 
run  you  through,  or  to  carry  you  off  somewhere 
where  there  are  no  feather  beds,  would  you  stand 
it?  would  you  cheerfully  give  yourselves  up  to 
be  dragged  off?  Or  would  you  make  long  legs, 
keep  a  whole  skin,  and  deny  your  Saviour?  0 
God  grant  that  all  of  us  may  be  able  to  cry  with 
the  Apostle  Paul,  "I  count  all  things  but  loss,  that 
I  may  win  Christ."  "I  am  persuaded,  that  neither 
death,  nor  life,  nor  angels,  nor  principalities,  nor 
powers,  nor  things  present,  nor  things  to  come,  nor 
height,  nor  depth,  shall  be  able  to  separate  me  from 
the  love  of  God,  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord!" 
Let  us  now  sing  with  the  sound  of  the  trumpets 
our  Luther's  hero  song — 

"  «  "  Ein'  feste  Burg  1st  unser  Gott."  '  " 

"  What  does  that  mean  ?  "  said  Maggie. 

"It  means,  'The  Lord  is  my  strength  and  my 
•fortress;'  or  more  literally,  Maggie,  'Our  God  is  a 
sure  stronghold.' " 

" '  When  this  hymn  had  been  sung,  it  was  time 
for  our  noonday  meal.  So  after  we  had  prayed  the 
prayer  before  eating,  the  people  arranged  them- 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  233 

selves  everywhere  in  larger  and  smaller  groups,  on 
the  green  grass  or  the  brown  heather,  and  with 
giving  of  thanks  enjoyed  the  food  they  had  brought 
along  with  them.  Those  who  had  nothing  took 
gladly  the  spare  bits  of  those  who  had  too  much. 
And  all  were  filled ;  and  beer,  and  water,  and  even 
sugar  water,  were  on  hand  too  to  quench  the  burn 
ing  thirst.  I  had  myself  a  further  particular  pleas 
ure.  A  few  of  our  festival  companions  had  brought 
with  them  some  mighty  pieces  of  honey-cake,  as  a 
gift  for  me.  That  suited  me  exactly,  and  I  had  it 
packed  in  with  other  things  in  my  basket  of  pro 
visions.  Now  you  should  have  seen  the  glee,  when 
I  called  the  children  to  me  and  snapped  off  the 
sweet  bits  for  them.  There  came  even  a  pretty 
good  number  of  larger  people,  who  wanted  to  be 
children  too  and  have  their  bits  after  the  children 
had  had  enough.  When  we  had  eaten  we  had  the 
prayer  of  thanks,  and  then  the  beautiful  song, 

"Now  let  us  thank  God  and  praise  him,"  etc. 

A  blast  of  the  trumpets  proclaimed  the  renewal 
of  divine  service;  and  again  the  people  arranged 
themselves  in  their  former  places  and  order  for  a 
new  and  last  refreshing  of  their  spirits.' " 


234  PINE   NEEDLES 


CHAPTER   XV. 

"  Is  that  all  ?  "  said  Maggie. 

"  All  of  that  story,"  Meredith  answered. 

There  was  a  long  silence.  On  hill  and  rock  and 
river,  there  was  a  stillness  and  peace  as  if  nowhere 
in  the  world  could  blood  ever  have  flowed,  or 
wrangling  been  heard,  or  men  been  cruel  one  to 
another.  So  soft  and  warm  the  sunlight  brooded, 
and  the  dry  leaves  hung  still  on  the  trees  and  not 
a  breath  moved  them,  and  the  liquid  lap  of  the 
water  against  the  rocks  far  down  below  just  came 
to  the  ear  with  a  murmur  of  content.  There  was 
nothing  else  to  hear;  and  the  silence  was  so  exqui 
site  that  it  laid  a  sort  of  spell  on  everybody's 
tongue;  while  the  mild  sunlight  on  the  warm, 
hazy  hills  seemed  to  find  out  everybody's  very 
heart  and  spread  itself  there.  A  spell  of  stillness 
and  a  spell  of  peace.  All  the  party  were  hushed 
for  a  good  while;  and  what  broke  the  charm  at 
last  was  a  long-drawn  breath  of  little  Maggie, 
which  came  from  somewhere  much  deeper  than 
she  knew.  Mr.  Murray  looked  up  at  her  and 
smiled. 

"What  is  it,  Maggie?" 


AND    OLD    YARNS.  235 

"  I  don't  know,  Uncle  Eden.  I  think,  something 
makes  me  feel  bad." 

"  Feel  bad !  "  echoed  Esther. 

"  I  don't  mean  feel  bad  exactly — I  can't  explain 
it." 

"I  suppose  she  has  been  thinking,  as  I  have 
been,"  said  Meredith,  "  that  it  does  not  seem  as  if 
this  day  and  my  story  could  both  belong  to  the 
same  world." 

"Ah!"  said  Mr.  Murray— "this  is  a  little  bit  of 
God's  part,  and  the  other  is  a  little  bit  of  man's 
part  in  the  world;  that  is  all." 

"  But  Uncle  Eden,  in  those  dreadful  times  it  don't 
seem  as  if  there  could  ever  have  been  pleasant  days." 

"  I  fancy  there  were.  Don't  you  think  the  peo 
ple  of  Hermannsburg  must  have  enjoyed  Tiefenthal, 
sometimes  in  the  early  starlight  dawn  and  some 
times  in  the  fresh  sunrise  ?  " 

"  Uncle  Eden,  I  should  always  have  been  afraid 
the  soldiers  were  coming." 

"  On  the  other  hand,  those  people  always  knew 
that  God  was  there.  And  there  is  a  wonderful 
sweetness  in  living  in  his  hand." 

"But  yet,  Uncle  Eden — he  did  let  the  soldiers 
come  ?  " 

"  He  did  not  go  away,  Maggie." 

"  No, — but  those  must  have  been  dreadful  times." 

"Well,  yes.  They  were  no  doubt  hard  times. 
And  yet,  Maggie,  it  remains  true — '  When  he  giv- 
eth  quietness,  then  who  can  make  trouble  ? '  Think 
of  Paul  and  Silas,  beaten  and  bleeding,  stiff  and 


236  PINE   NEEDLES 

sore,  stretched  uncomfortably  in  the  wooden  frame 
work  which  left  them  no  power  to  rest  themselves 
or  change  their  position;  in  the  noisome  inner  dun 
geon  of  a  Koman  prison;  and  yet  singing  for  glad 
ness.  People  cannot  sing  when  they  are  faint 
hearted,  Maggie.  The  Lord  keeps  his  promises." 

"  I  wonder  how  many  people  would  stand  Pas 
tor  Harms'  test?"  Meredith  remarked. 

"They  are  not  obliged  to  stand  it,"  Flora  re 
joined.  "There  are  no  persecutions  now;  not 
here,  at  any  rate.  People  are  not  called  upon  to 
be  martyrs." 

"Do  you  think  the  terms  of  service  have 
changed?"  said  Mr.  Murray  looking  at  her. 

"  Why,  sir,  we  are  not  called  upon  to  be  martyrs?" 

"No,  but  are  you  not  called  to  have  the  same 
spirit  the  martyrs  had  ?  " 

"  How  can  we  ?  " 

"What  is  the  martyr  spirit?" 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  Flora.  "  I  suppose  it  is  a 
wonderful  power  of  bearing  pain,  which  is  given 
people  at  such  times." 

"  Given  to  everybody  ?  "  said  Meredith. 

"  Of  course,  not  given  to  everybody." 

"  To  whom,  then  ?  " 

"  Why,  to  Christians." 

"And  what  is  a  Christian?"  said  Mr.  Murray. 
"  Are  there  two  kinds,  one  for  peace  and  the  other 
for  war  ?  " 

"  No,  I  suppose  not,"  said  Flora  somewhat  mys 
tified. 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  237 

" '  Whosoever  shall  confess  me  before  men,  him 
will  I  also  confess  before  my  Father  which  is  in 
heaven.'  So  the  Lord  said.  Now  in  times  of  per 
secution,  you  know  what  confessing  Christ  meant. 
What  does  it  mean  in  these  days  ?  " 

"  I  do  not  think  I  understand  the  question,  Mr. 
Murray." 

"In  the  Koman  days,  for  instance,  how  did  peo 
ple  confess  Christ?" 

"  I  don't  know.  They  owned  that  they  were 
Christians." 

"  How  did  they  own  that  ?  They  refused  to  do 
anything  that  could  be  construed  into  paying  hon 
our  to  the  gods  of  the  people.  They  might  have 
said  in  word  that  they  were  Christians — but  no^ 
body  would  have  meddled  with  them  if  they 
would  have  hung  garlands  of  flowers  upon  Jupi 
ter's  altar." 

"No—"  said  Flora. 

"How  is  it  in  these  days?" 

"What  do  you  mean,  sir?" 

"  I  mean,  how  is  Christ  to  be  confessed  in  these 
days?" 

"I  don't  know,"  said  Flora;  "except  by  mak 
ing  what  is  called  a  profession  of  religion, — -join 
ing  some  church,  I  suppose." 

"Does  that  do  it?" 

"I  do  not  know  how  else." 

"Why  Uncle  Eden,"  said  Maggie,  "how  can  one 
do  it  any  other  way  ?  " 

"One  cannot  do  it  in  that  way,  my  pet." 


238  PINE   NEEDLES 

" Not?"  said  Flora.     "How  then,  Mr.  Murray?" 

"What  do  people  join,  the  church  for,  then,  Uncle 
Eden  ?  "  Esther  inquired. 

"Those  who  enlist  in  Christ's  army  must  cer 
tainly  put  on  his  uniform.  But  who  shall  say  that 
the  uniform  does  not  cover  a  traitor  ?  " 

"A  traitor,  Mr.  Murray?"    Flora  looked  puzzled. 

"Yes.  There  are  many  traitors.  There  were 
even  in  Paul's  time." 

"Traitors  among  the  Christians?" 

"So  he  wrote.  'Many  walk,  of  whom  I  have 
told  you  often  and  tell  you  now  again  even  weep 
ing,  that  they  are  enemies  of  the  cross  of  Christ.' 
They  were  professors  of  his  name,  nevertheless, 
Miss  Flora;  but  confess  him  before  men,  except 
in  word,  they  did  not.  So  my  question  stands, 
you  perceive." 

"  How  to  confess  Christ  nowadays  so  that  there 
shall  be  no  mistake  about  it?"  Meredith  added. 
Flora  and  Esther  and  Maggie  sat  looking  at  Mr. 
Murray,  as  at  the  propounder  of  a  riddle.  Fenton 
pricked  up  his  ears  and  stared  at  the  whole  group. 

"What  did  those  people  do,  Mr.  Murray  ?"  Flora 
asked. 

"Paul  tells.  He  says  of  them  that  their  'glory 
is~in  their  shame';  they  'mind  earthly  things.'" 

"How  can  one  help  minding  earthly  things?  as 
long  as  one  lives  in  this  world  ?  " 

"One  cannot,  Miss  Flora.  But  the  characteristic 
of  a  Christian  is,  that  he  seeks  first  the  kingdom  of 
God." 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  239 

"How?" 

"First,  to  have  the  Lord's  will  done  in  his  own 
heart;  next,  to  have  it  done  in  other  people's 
hearts." 

"But  you  were  talking  of  doing  something  to 
show  to  the  world  that  you  are  certainly  a  Chris 
tian,  Mr.  Murray?" 

"Yes,  Miss  Flora.  Shall  I  tell  you  some  of  the 
ways  in  which  this  may  be  accomplished?" 

"Yes,  if  you  please.     I  am  completely  in  a  fog." 

"  I  never  like  to  leave  anybody  in  a  fog.  Now 
listen,  and  I  will  give  you  some  of  the  Bible  marks 
of  a  real  Christian. 

"'Whosoever  lie  be  of  you  that  forsdketli  not  aft  that 
he  hath,  he  can  not  be  my  disciple.' " 

"But  Mr.  Murray!—" 

"  Yes,  that  is  just  it  exactly ! "  said  Meredith 
delighted. 

"  How  can  one  forsake  all  he  has  ?    Be  a  beggar  ?  " 

"Not  at  all.  Give  it  all  to  Christ,  and  be  his 
steward." 

"  Not  to  please  yourself  in  anything ! "  cried  Flora. 

"  I  did  not  say  so.  And  the  Bible  does  not  mean 
so.  For  another  Bible  mark  of  a  Christian  is,  in 
the  Lord's  words — 

"  lMy  meat  is  to  do  the  will  of  him  that  sent  me.' " 

"But  can't  one  do  anything  that  one  wants  to 
do  ?  "  cried  Flora  in  dismay. 

"  Many  things.  But  a  Christian  has  no  pleasure 
in  what  does  not  please  God." 

"  How  is  one  always  to  know  ?  " 


240  PINE   NEEDLES 

"  I  am  going  on  to  tell  you  in  part.  *  Whatsoever 
ye  do,  do  oil  to  the  glory  of  God.'" 

"That  don't  tell  me,"  said  Flora.  'How  can  I 
tell  what  will  do  that?  Arid  how  can  one  do  every 
thing  so  ?  Little  things — and  life  is  very  much 
made  up  of  little  things.  Dressing,  and  study 
ing,  and  reading,  and  playing,  and  amusing  one's 
self." 

"0  Flora?"— Maggie  cried;  and  "Why  Flora!" 
Meredith  said,  looking  at  her;  but  neither  added 
anything  more. 

"The  Bible  says,  'whether  ye  eat  or  drink,  or 
whatsoever  ye  do,'"  Mr.  Murray  answered.  "In  an 
other  place,  ' what soever  ye  do,  in  word  or  deed.'" 

"Well,  Mr.  Murray,  I  don't  understand  it;  take 
eating  and  drinking — how  can  that  be  done  to  the 
glory  of  God?" 

"  You  can  easily  see  how  it  can  be  done  not  to 
his  glory.  Any  way  that  is  not  becoming  his  ser 
vant,  is  not  to  his  glory.  Therefore,  in  excess — of 
things  that  do  not  agree  with  you  and  therefore 
unfit  you  for  duty — of  costly  dishes,  which  take 
the  money  that  might  feed  starving  people." 

"  But  I  can't  feed  all  the  starving  people  !  "  said 
Flora. 

"It  is  something  to  feed  one.  But  I  will  give 
you  another  Bible  mark,  Miss  Flora,  lHe  that  saith 
he  abideth  in  him,'  that  is,  in  Christ,  '  ought  himself 
also  so  to  walk  even  as  he  walked.'  Now  remember 
how  Christ  walked.  He  was  here,  '  as  one  that 
serveth'  He  'ivent  about  doing  good.'  He  *  pleased 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  241 

not  himself.'  He  ''did  always  those  things  that  please' 
God." 

" But  one  can't  be  like  him"  said  Esther. 

"  That  depends  entirely  upon  whether  you  choose 
to  be  like  him." 

"  Oh  Uncle  Eden  !     He  was—" 

"  Yes,  I  know,  and  I  know  what  you  are,  and  I, 
and  all  of  us.  It  remains  true, — '  God  is  faithful,  by 
whom  ye  were  called  unto  the  fellowship  of  his  Son 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord;' — 'chosen,  that  we  should 
be  holy  and  without  blame  before  him  in  love.' " 

There  was  a  pause  of  some  length.  Flora  was 
silenced,  but  her  eyes  had  filled  and  her  face  wore 
a  pained  and  bitter  expression.  Meredith  had 
glanced  at  her  and  thought  it  better  not  to  speak. 
Maggie  was  in  a  depth  of  meditation.  Fenton  had 
gone  scrambling  down  the  rocks.  Esther  looked 
somewhat  bored. 

"  Have  you  got  your  book  there,  Meredith  ?  "  Mr. 
Murray  asked. 

"Yes,  sir." 

"  Read  us  something  more.  And  after  that  you 
may  all  bring  your  questions.  We  came  here  on 
purpose  to  talk,  as  I  understood." 

"There  are  different  sorts  of  things  here,  sir. 
Shall  I  give  you  a  change?" 

"  What  you  will— 

"  '  O  day  most  calm,  most  bright, 

The  fruit  of  this,  the  next  world's  bud — 
Th'  indorsement  of  supreme  delight, 
Writ  by  a  friend,  and  with  his  blood  ; 

16 


242  PINE   NEEDLES 

The  couch  of  time;  care's  balm  and  bay; 
The  week  were  dark  but  for  thy  light; 
Thy  torch  doth  shew  the  way.'  " 

"That's  better  than  anything  I  have  got,  sir,' 
said  Meredith. 

"  No.  But  it  is  good.  And  just  here  and  to-day 
the  Sabbath  seems  dressed  in  royal  robes.  I  could 
not  but  think  of  those  lines." 

"I  confess,  Mr.  Murray,  Sunday  is  nothing  like 
that  to  me,"  said  Flora. 

"You  are  honest,  Miss  Flora.  That  gives  me 
some  hope  of  you.  No,  naturally  the  Sabbath  does 
not  seem  like  that  to  you  yet. — Well,  Meredith  ?  " 

"  Is  there  more  of  it,  sir  ? "  Meredith's  sister 
asked. 

"More  than  you  would  care  for,  Miss  Flora. — 

11 '  Sundays  the  pillars  are 

On  which  heav'n's  palace  arched  lies; 
The  other  days  fill  up  the  spare 
And  hollow  room  with  vanities. — '  " 

"  And  yet  that  need  not  be  true,  either.  Go  on, 
Meredith.  What  will  you  give  us?"- 

"Two  stories,  sir,  on  the  words,  'Hold  that  fast 
which  thou  hast,  that  no  man  take  thy  crown.' 

"'On  the  twenty-fifth  of  June,  1530,  therefore 
three  hundred  and  forty  years  ago,  as  is  well 
known,  our  Lutheran  Confession  of  Faith  was  de 
livered  before  the  Diet  at  Augsburg.  There  was 
the  powerful  emperor  Charles  the  Fifth,  and  his 
brother,  King  Ferdinand,  besides  a  number  of  elec- 


AND  OLD   YARNS.  243 

toral  princes,  dukes  and  bishops.  Before  this  crowd 
of  some  three  to  four  hundred  nobles,  stood  a  lit 
tle  company  of  seven  princes  and  two  represented 
cities;  that  is,  the  Elector  John  the  Constant  and 
his  son  John  Frederick  of  Saxony,  Margrave  George 
of  Brandenburg,  Duke  Ernst  the  Confessor  and  his 
brother  Francis  of  Luneburg,  Landgrave  Philip  of 
Hesse,  Prince  Wolfgang  of  Anhalt,  and  the  two  bur- 
germasters  of  Nurnberg  and  Keutlingen.  These 
nine  stood  forth  with  the  spirit  of  heroes,  and 
confessed,  under  signature  of  their  names,  that  in 
this  faith  they  would  live  and  die,  and  that  no 
power  of  earth  or  hell  should  make  them  turn  from 
it.  For  the  Lutherans  were  wickedly  slandered, 
as  men  who  no  longer  believed  in  any  thing,  and 
who  therefore  deserved  no  other  than  to  be  rooted 
out  from  the  earth.  That  was  why  the  Lutheran 
princes  had  requested  that  it  might  be  granted  them 
to  declare  their  faith  publicly  before  the  Diet;  to 
the  end  that  everybody  might  know  how  their 
belief  rested  upon  the  Scriptures  and  stood  in  har 
mony  with  the  universal  ancient  Christian  church; 
and  indeed  had  flung  away  only  the  false  human 
teachings  which  had  found  their  way  into  the 
church.  For  this  purpose  the  twenty-fifth  of  June 
was  fixed.  The  electoral  chancellor  Beyer  stepped 
into  the  middle  of  the  hall  with  the  written  Confes 
sion  of  Faitli  in  his  hand.  The  evangelical  princes 
rose  and  stood  listening  while  it  was  read,  and  tes 
tified  that  this  was  the  faith  they  held,  to  which  by 
God's  help  they  would  stand  unmoved.  Then  did 


244  PINE   NEEDLES 

all  that  were  present  hear  what  the  faith  of  the 
Lutherans  was;  there  stood  the  doctrine  of  the  tri 
une  God,  of  original  sin,  of  the  eternal  Godhead  of 
Jesus  Christ;  of  justification  before  God  through 
grace  alone  by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  etc.,  though  I 
hope  I  do  not  need  to  tell  you  any  more  about  it ;  I 
think  you  all  know  the  Augsburg  Confession  and 
have  read  it,  for  surely  you  are  all  of  you  Lutheran 
Christians,  and  all  Lutheran  Christians  know  the 
Augsburg  Confession.  But  if  there  be  one  among 
you  who  does  riot  yet  know  this  act  of  confession, 
let  him  be  ashamed  of  himself,  and  get  a  copy  with 
all  speed,  and  read  it,  and  read  it  again.  When  it 
was  read  aloud  at  Augsburg,  the  impression  it  made 
was  very  great;  people  saw  that  the  Lutherans  had 
been  shamefully  slandered.  Duke  William  of  Ba 
varia  reproached  De  Eck  with  having  represented 
the  Lutheran  doctrine  to  him  in  entirely  false  col 
ours.  The  doctor  answered,  he  would  undertake 
to  refute  this  writing  from  the  Christian  fathers, 
but  not  from  the  Scripture.  Then  the  duke  re 
turned,  "  So,  if  I  hear  aright,  the  Lutherans  are  in 
the  Scriptures,  and  we  near  by !  " 

'"There  did  the  steadfast  Lutherans  keep  that 
saying  in  their  hearts — "  Hold  that  fast  which  thou 
hast,  that  no  man  take  thy  crown."  Ay,  when 
before  the  beginning  of  the  Diet  the  Lutheran  min 
isters  earnestly  besought  the  Elector  of  Saxony  that 
he  would  not  for  their  sakes  run  into  danger,  but 
graciously  permit  them  to  appear  alone  and  give 
in  their  declaration  before  the  emperor,  the  un- 


AND    OLD    YARNS.  245 

daunted  prince  made  them  answer — "  God  forbid 
that  I  should  be  shut  out  from  your  company;  I 
will  confess  my  Lord  Jesus  Christ  with  you." 

'"This  is  one  story  about  those  words;  now  I 
will  give  you  another — '" 

"  Stop  one  minute,  Ditto.  Uncle  Eden,  I  do  not 
exactly  understand  all  that  ?  " 

"  What  do  you  not  understand  ?  " 

"  Who  were  all  those  people  ?  " 

"The  Catholic  nobles  of  the  German  empire, 
with  Charles  the  Fifth,  a  very  powerful  emperor, 
at  their  head,  and  the  chief  Catholic  church  doc 
tors  and  dignitaries, — all  that  on  one  side;  repre 
senting  the  powers  of  this  world.  On  the  other 
side,  a  little  handful  of  men  whom  Luther's  teach 
ing  had  wakened  out  of  the  darkness  of  the  Middle 
ages,  confessing  Christ  before  men;  representing 
the  feeble  flock  of  his  followers." 

"Yes,"  said  Maggie  thoughtfully.  "Was  there 
danger  ?  " 

"There  was  great  danger  to  whoever  got  into 
the  power  of  the  Catholic  lords." 

"  Do  you  think  the  world  is  always  against  the 
truth,  Mr.  Murray  ?  "  Flora  asked. 

Mr.  Murray  answered  in  the  words  of  the  psalm 
— "  '  How  do  the  heathen  rage,  and  the  people  im 
agine  a  vain  thing !  The  kings  of  the  earth  set 
themselves,  and  their  rulers  take  counsel  together 
against  the  Lord  and  against  his  Anointed,  saying, 
Let  us  break  their  bonds  asunder,  and  cast  away 
their  cords  from  us  ! ' " 


246  PINE   NEEDLES 

"But  all  times  are  not  like  those  times  of  the 
Reform  a  tion  ?  " 

"  Not  just.  The  world  power  strives  against  the 
church  in  a  variety  of  ways,  sometimes  with  force 
and  sometimes  with  guile.  The  beast  in  the  vision, 
who  has  his  power  from  the  devil,  sometimes  makes 
war  with  the  saints;  and  sometimes  'he  causeth 
all,  both  small  and  great,  rich  and  poor,  free  and 
bond,  to  receive  a  mark  in  their  right  hand  or  in 
their  foreheads;  and  that  no  man  might  buy  or  sell 
save  he  that  has  the  mark.' — Miss  Flora,  I  believe 
the  war  times  are  the  less  evil  and  dangerous. 
Well,  Meredith,  you  bear  interruptions  philosoph 
ically.  Go  on  with  your  new  story." 

"  This  new  story  '  happened  more  than  two  hun 
dred  years  ago,  at  the  place  called  Galgenberg '  (that 
is,  Gallowshill,  Maggie),  'in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Hermanrisburg.  In  old  times  a  gallows  used  to 
stand  there,  on  which  thieves  and  oath-breakers 
were  hung.' " 

"  Oath-breakers !  "  said  Mr.  Murray.  "  It  seems 
the  Saxons  kept  their  hatred  of  untruth.  But  I 
beg  your  pardon,  Meredith." 

*'It's  half  the  fun,  to  stop  and  talk,  sir.  'At  that 
time  the  criminal  jurisdiction  was  located  in  Her- 
mannsburg;  and  four  times  in  the  year,  at  quarter- 
day,  court  was  held  here  and  the  judgment  car 
ried  into  effect  as  soon  as  delivered.  To  this  end 
the  justiciaries  of  Hermannsburg,  Bergen  and  Fall- 
ingbostel  came  together  here  arid  held  the  court, 
after  they  had  first  attended  the  weekly  service  in 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  247 

the  church  at  Hermannsburg  to  prepare  them  for 
their  vocation ;  for  quarter-day  always  fell  upon  a 
Wednesday.  However  in  those  days  perjury  and 
theft  were  so  rare,  that  once  it  happened  that 
twenty  years  passed  away,  with  court  held  every 
quarter-day,  and  nobody  was  sentenced.  The  jus 
tice  of  Hermannsburg  had  two  staves,  one  all  white 
and  one  parti-coloured.  If  he  found  no  one  guilty, 
he  broke  the  coloured  staff;  if,  however,  anybody 
was  convicted,  then  he  broke  the  white  staff,  with 
the  words, 

"  '  "The  staff  is  broken, 

The  judgment  is  spoken, 
Man,  thou  must  hang." 

"  *  And  then,  after  the  pastor  had  prayed  with 
the  criminal,  the  sentence  was  executed.' " 

"  Fearful  times,  sir,"  said  Meredith  pausing. 

"  Horrible  !  "  echoed  Flora. 

"Two  sides  to  the  question,"  said  Mr.  Murray. 
"  I  am  musing  over  the  novelty  of  the  combina 
tion.  Twenty  years  without  one  man  convicted 
of  theft  or  a  false  oath !  Think  of  that,  arid  you 
will  comprehend  the  horror  of  the  crime  which 
made  such  sudden  work  with  the  criminal." 

"  I  will  go  on,"  said  Meredith. — "  '  Some  old  peo 
ple  are  yet  living  who  have  seen  the  gallows  which 
stood  on  the  Galgenberg.  Now  I  will  tell  you 
my  story  about  the  words,  "  Hold  that  fast  which 
thou  hast,  that  no  man  take  thy  crown."  It  was 
in  the  thirty  years'  war,  which  from  1618  to  1648 


248  PINE   NEEDLES 

raged  between  the  Catholics  and  the  Protestants. 
Through  all  this  miserable  time  the  parish  of  Her- 
mannsburg  enjoyed  the  rare  good  fortune  of  hav 
ing  a  faithful  shepherd  over  it;  his  name  was  An 
dreas  Kruse;  he  became  pastor  in  1617,  and  died 
in  1652.  His  successor,  Paulus  Boccatius,  gives 
him  this  testimony  in  the  church  register — "True 
as  gold,  pure  as  silver.  Ah,  thou  faithful  and  good 
servant,  thou  hast  been  faithful  over  a  few  things; 
I  will  make  thee  ruler  over  many  things."  For 
years  at  a  time  the  church  at  Hermannsburg  was 
closed  to  him.  At  those  times  he  went  with  his 
people  into  the  wilds  and  held  divine  service  there. 
Furthermore,  the  whole  of  the  neighbouring  pas 
tors  were  either  dead  of  the  plague,  or  killed,  or 
driven  away ;  so  that  he  took  care  of  all  their  par 
ishes  beside  his  own ;  and  this  he  did  for  twenty- 
five  years.  One  good  supporter  he  had  in  a  bailiff 
called  Andreas  Schliiter,  who  died  in  the  year  1643 
and  lies  buried  in  the  church-yard  at  Hermanns- 
burg;  a  man  after  God's  heart,  who  faithfully  stood 
by  his  pastor  and  often  hid  him  away  in  his  house 
for  weeks  at  a  time.  The  pastor  did  not  merely 
celebrate  divine  service ;  he  had  also  preserved  the 
silver  church  vessels  from  the  plundering  hands  of 
the  enemy.  These  silver  vessels  were  used  in  the 
service  of  the  Lord's  supper;  and  after  it  was  over 
the  sacristan  or  clerk  set  tin  ones  in  their  place 
upon  the  altar.  They  did  not  mean  to  act  any  lie 
by  the  means,  however,  for  the  tin  vessels  were  not 
made  for  the  purposes  of  deception,  but  had  been 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  249 

there  beforetime.  Things  went  on  in  this  way  un 
til  the  year  1633.  At  that  time  Duke  George  as 
sembled  an  army  and  marched  against  the  imperial 
forces.  His  men  were  burning  with  an  eagerness 
for  the  fight,  which  delighted  the  duke.  The  ene 
my  were  stationed  at  Nienburg  and  Hameln.  See 
ing  that  the  duke  was  approaching  them  they 
drew  back  to  Oldendorf  in  the  Hesse  country,  arid 
there  the  duke  got  hold  of  them  in  the  month  of 
June,  1633.  When  his  faithful  followers  asked  him, 
"  What  shall  the  battle-cry  be  ?  "— "  God  with  us !  " 
answered  the  duke;  and  therewith  they  went  at  the 
enemy  bravely.  And  soon  the  foe  was  so  fearfully 
beaten  that  they  scattered  and  fled  in  every  direc 
tion;  fifty  imperial  standards  and  twenty  cannon 
remaining  in  the  duke's  hands. 

"  '  Among  the  fugitives  were  the  two  imperial 
generals  Merode  and  Gronsfeld.  The  former  was 
wounded  to  death  and  died  at  Nienburg.  Grons 
feld  fled  in  such  haste,  that  he  lost  his  sword  and 
plumed  hat.  The  duke  kept  these  for  himself;  to 
be  his  share  of  the  spoils.  In  their  flight  the 
imperialists  came  through  the  Luneburg  country, 
with  the  most  frightful  outrages  which  they  com 
mitted  by  the  way.  Among  these,  the  record  tells 
of  a  lieutenant  captain,  named  Altringer,  who  came 
to  the  village  of  Hermannsburg  and  plundered  the 
inhabitants;  he  pushed  his  way  even  into  the  par 
sonage,  and  asked  the  pastor  "  what  he  had  to  give 
him  ? "  "I  am  a  poor  man,"  the  latter  replied ; 
"  you  may  open  all  my  boxes."  They  did  so,  and 


250  PINE   NEEDLES 

— ten  shillings  was  all  they  found.  In  a  rage  at 
this,  they  beat  the  doors  and  windows  to  pieces, 
and  summoned  him — "You  must  have  some  church 
furniture  too — here,  out  with  it !  "  The  pastor  an 
swered,  "Have  you  been  in  the  church  yet?" 
"Those  are  tin  vessels,"  said  the  enemy;  "you 
are  bound  to  have  silver  ones  as  well.  Where 
are  they  ?  give  them  up."  "  No,"  said  the  faith 
ful  pastor,  "  that  is  what  I  will  not  do."  "  Where 
have  you  hidden  them  ?  "  "  You  are  not  going  to 
find  out." 

" 4  Upon  this  they  condemned  the  brave  man  to 
the  "  Swedish  drink."  This  frightful  punishment 
consisted  in  the  following :  The  victim  was  brought 
to  the  dung-pit,  his  mouth  was  forced  open,  a  gag 
put  between  his  teeth,  and  then  dung  water  poured 
down  his  throat;  after  which  men  stamped  with 
their  feet  upon  his  bloated  body,  until  either  he 
confessed  or  gave  up  the  ghost.  Now  they  had  al 
ready  brought  Pastor  Kruse  to  the  dung-pit.  There, 
before  they  began,  he  prayed  with  a  loud  voice, 
"  Lord  Jesus,  have  mercy  on  me."  The  lieutenant 
captain  was  moved  with  pity.  "  No,"  he  said,  "  this 
man  shall  not  die  by  the  *  Swedish  drink.'  To  the 
gallows  with  him  !  he  shall  hang."  Arrived  at  the 
gallows  he  was  there  asked  again,  "Where  is  the 
church  service?"  He  answered,  "I  shall  not  tell 
you  where."  Thereupon  order  was  given  to  exe 
cute  the  sentence.  But  in  the  first  place  he  kneeled 
down  and  prayed,  for  his  enemies  also,  that  God 
would  not  lay  this  sin  to  their  charge,  but  give 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  25i 

them  grace  to  repent.  Then  he  mounted  the  lad 
der,  and  the  noose  was  already  round  his  neck; 
meanwhile  a  tall  man  coming  from  Celle  stepped 
up  behind  a  tree,  where,  himself  unseen,  he  could 
observe  everything.  At  the  same  instant  people 
were  seen  on  the  other  side  coming  from  Hermanns- 
burg  and  making  signals  with  a  white  cloth  to  sig 
nify  that  they  had  got  the  church  vessels.  Where 
had  they  found  them  ?  They  considered,  that  sure 
ly  the  pastor  would  have  buried  them  in  the  deep 
est  part  of  his  house,  that  is  in  the  cellar.  But  in 
what  spot  ?  This  they  discovered  in  the  following 
manner.  They  poured  five  or  six  pailfuls  of  water 
011  the  cellar  floor.  At  first  for  a  while,  it  stood 
there ;  then  all  of  a  sudden  it  began  to  run  together 
towards  one  place  and  there  sink  in.  "  Ha,  ha,"  said 
they;  "here  is  a  hole  in  the  ground;  the  things 
must  be  buried  there."  So  they  dug  it  up  and  found 
the  church  vessels.  When  the  pastor  saw  the  com 
munion  service  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  then 
the  tears  rose  to  his  eyes.  But  as  for  the  effect 
those  people  had  hoped  for,  that  is,  that  his  life 
might  be  saved,  they  found  it  would  not  do ;  the 
hard  lieutenant  captain  would  not  change  his  order ; 
the  man  must  hang. 

" '  Then  stepped  out  yonder  tall  man  from  be 
hind  the  tree;  it  was  General  Gronsfield;  and  he 
spoke.  "  Will  you  put  to  death  this  man  who  in 
dying  prays  for  his  enemies,  and  who  weeps  for  his 
church  service  and  not  for  his  own  life  ?  Set  him 
at  liberty ! "  The  pastor  stretched  out  his  hands 


252  PINE   NEEDLES 

to  the  general  and  implored,  "Ah,  my  lord  gen 
eral,  the  church  vessels ! "  But  he  answered,  "  I 
cannot  give  you  those  back;  they  are  the  booty  of 
my  soldiers;  but  your  life  is  granted  you." 

"  *  The  parish  people  of  Hermannsburg  used  the 
tin  service  for  a  long  while  after  that,  till  towards 
the  end  of  the  war  silver  vessels  were  again  pro 
vided.  Kruse  remained  pastor  here  until  1652.  He 
too  kept  that  saying  in  his  heart — "  Hold  that  fast 
which  thou  hast,  that  no  man  take  thy  crown." ' 

"What  awful  times! "  was  Flora's  comment  when 
Meredith  stopped  reading. 

"The  world  has  moved  a  little  since  then,"  Mr. 
Murray  observed.  "  Let  us  be  thankful,  such  bar 
barous  cruelties  are  no  longer  practised  by  the 
civilized  part  of  the  world ;  and  civilization  is 
spreading." 

"  But  I  don't  think  much  of  that  story,"  Esther 
went  on.  "The  man  made  a  great  deal  more  fuss 
about  the  soldiers  having  his  church  service  than 
was  at  all  necessary.  That  wasn't  a  thing  to  die 
for." 

"By  his  lights,  and  his  love  for  the  sacred  vessels, 
it  was.  You  must  take  his  point  of  view;  and 
then  you  will  find  him,  as  I  do,  very  noble." 

"But  it  is  very  difficult  to  take  other  people's 
point  of  view,  Mr.  Murray;  especially  when  it  is 
unreasonable." 

"  Who  shall  judge  ?  "  said  Mr.  Murray  smiling. 

"  You  mean,  JT  might  be  the  one  who  was  un 
reasonable." 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  253 

"  Anybody  might,  occasionally.  And  it  is  of  the 
very  essence  of  charity,  Miss  Flora,  to  take  other 
people's  point  of  view.  Only  so  can  you  possibly 
come  to  a  right  estimate  of  their  action." 

"  I  don't  like  that  story  much,  Ditto !  I  mean, 
not  so  much.  I  wish  you  would  read  another," 
said  Maggie. 

"I  will  read  you  another,"  said  Meredith;  "and 
it  shall  be  very  different. 

'"The  story  that  I  am  now  about  to  tell  you  is 
such  a  one  as  certainly  nobody  expects  to  hear 
from  me ;  it  is  namely,  the  story  of  a  night-watch 
man.  But  there  is  no  sort  of  reason  why  you  should 
laugh  at  this  word,  for  indeed  the  story  is  a  pretty 
one ;  and  I  wish  all  the  night-watchmen  in  city  and 
country  would  take  after  this  man  and  do  as  he 
did;  that  is,  provided  they  could  do  it  from  the 
bottom  of  their  hearts.  A  poor  cottager  in  one  of 
our  country  villages,  some  years  ago,  out  of  curios 
ity,  came  to  one  of  our  mission  festivals.  There  to 
his  astonishment  he  heard  that  the  Lord  Jesus  will 
have  all  men  to  be  saved,  that  are  in  the  whole 
earth,  even  the  poor  heathen ;  and  that  accordingly 
he  has  commanded  his  servants,  the  Christians,  to 
cast  the  net  of  the  Gospel  into  the  sea  of  the  hea 
then  world.  He  heard  how  the  heathen  are  to  be 
saved,  because  Jesus  died  for  all  men ;  how  they  can 
nevertheless  no  otherwise  be  saved  than  through 
faith  in  him ;  because  there  is  salvation  for  sinners 
in  no  other  but  only  in  the  name  of  him,  who  was 
crucified  for  sinners  and  is  risen  again.  Meanwhile 


254  PINE   NEEDLES 

however,  by  means  of  this  mission  festival  the  dear 
man  himself  is  taken  in  the  net  of  the  Gospel;  for 
he  sees  that  he  also  is  a  sinner,  and  therefore  for 
him  also  there  is  no  salvation,  except  in  him  who 
forgives  sins  because  he  has  made  reconciliation 
for  sinners  with  God.  And  now,  finding  himself 
salvation  in  Christ,  this  experience  of  his  convinces 
him  that  nobody  but  Jesus  can  really  help  the  poor 
heathen.  But  then  since  Jesus  can  come  to  the 
poor  heathen  in  no  way  but  by  his  word  and  sac 
rament,  and  his  word  and  sacrament  the  heathen 
have  not,  it  becomes  very  clear  to  his  mind  that 
the  word  and  sacrament  must  be  carried  to  them. 
This  moreover  can  be  done  only  by  messengers  to 
the  heathen,  who  must  be  sent  to  them,  because 
they  have  not  got  wings  to  fly  thither.  Then  he 
begins  to  ponder  the  question,  how  he  can  do  some 
thing  to  help.  So  he  buys  himself  a  mission  box, 
that  he  may  always  be  putting  something  in  there 
when  he  has  anything  to  spare.  As  nevertheless 
what  goes  in  is  only  the  mites  of  poverty,  it  looks 
to  him  a  great  deal  too  little.  He  makes  the  re 
solve  now  that  every  quarter  of  a  year  he  will  go 
round  the  village  with  his  box  to  collect  for  the 
mission.  But  this  is  a  resolve  he  cannot  perform ; 
for  inasmuch  as  the  mission  is  not  known  to  the 
people  of  his  village,  he  reflects,  that  where  there 
is  no  heart  for  the  mission  naturally  there  are  no 
gifts  for  it.  And  there  he  was  quite  right,  and  did 
a  wise  thing  to  let  his  collecting  project  alone. 
So  about  that  he  gives  in,  and  quietly  hangs  up 


AND    OLD    YARNS.  255 

his  mission  box  in  his  room,  on  a  nail  opposite  the 
door,  so  that  every  one  who  comes  into  the  room 
can  see  it.  And  people  do  observe  it,  and  many  a 
one  asks  what  sort  of  a  thing  that  can  be  ?  He 
makes  answer,  it  is  for  this  purpose ;  that  whatever 
goes  into  it  will  be  applied  to  the  converting  of  the 
heathen.  And  so  in  this  way  some  few  mites  do 
actually  get  in ;  which  however  at  the  end  of  each 
year  bring  but  a  small  sum  Now  as  this  sum  is 
still  far  too  small  to  content  him,  he  turns  simply 
to  the  dear  Lord  Jesus,  and  says  to  him — "Dear 
Lord,  as  for  going  to  the  heathen  myself,  that  I 
cannot  do:  I  am  too  old,  and  I  have  not  learned 
enough.  But  because  thou  hast  done  so  much  for 
me  and  in  me,  I  would  like  greatly  to  do  something 
for  thee,  and  truly  a  little  more  than  I  have  done 
hitherto.  So  give  me  thy  Holy  Spirit,  that  I  may 
know  how  to  manage  it;  for  without  him,  man's 
knowledge  is  nought."  Following  upon  such  a 
prayer  then,  the  Lord  appointed  him  to  be  night- 
watcher.  For  without  his  having  in  the  least  an 
ticipated  such  a  thing,  the  village  community  in 
vited  him  to  undertake  the  service  of  the  night- 
watch  in  the  village.  He  made  answer,  he  must 
take  the  matter  into  consideration  before  God  and 
with  his  wife.  The  latter  was  not  at  first  disposed 
to  be  pleased  that  he  should  wake  while  others 
slept;  and  his  own  flesh  also  takes  to  it  not  kindly, 
to  have  to  wander  about  in  the  village  in  snow  and 
rain,  when  it  is  cold  and  when  it  is  stormy,  while 
everybody  else  is  lying  upon  his  ear.  But  his  for 


256  PINE   NEEDLES 

mer  prayer  recurs  to  him,  the  Lord  is  certainly 
now  giving  him  something  to  do;  and  so  he  says 
to  the  Lord  Jesus — "  My  dear  Saviour,  if  thou  canst 
use  me  in  this  way,  keeping  watch  in  the  village 
with  thy  holy  angels,  who  are  about  us  at  all  times, 
then  give  me  strength  and  joy  to  do  it ! "  And  as 
the  Lord  grants  him  both,  the  thing  is  settled,  and 
in  the  name  of  Jesus  he  accepts  the  office  of  night- 
watch.  The  custom  in  that  place  makes  it  a  rule, 
that  on  New  Year's  night  the  night-watch  should 
sing  under  people's  windows  a  couple  of  pretty 
Christian  verses,  as  it  were  a  New  Year's  greeting ; 
to  one  this  verse,  to  the  next  the  other  verse,  and 
so  round  at  all  the  houses.  New  Year's  day  then, 
or  the  day  after,  he  may  go  round  again  visiting 
house  by  house,  and  wish  happy  New  Year;  and 
the  people  give  him  according  to  their  means  and 
according  to  their  inclination  a  gift,  smaller  or 
larger,  and  these  gifts  belong  to  his  service  earn 
ings;  it  is  no  begging  either,  for  the  stipulation  is 
made  at  the  time  he  is  put  in  office.  With  true 
gladness  of  heart  now  in  the  New  Year's  night  he 
sings  under  all  the  windows  in  the  village;  and  as 
he  does  this,  he  seems  to  himself  just  the  same  as  a 
priest  of  God;  his  office  seems  to  him  a  right  holy 
one.  And  particularly  where  he  knows  that  a  sick 
person  is  lying  in  a  house  he  sings  the  loveliest 
verses  of  faith  and  comfort,  so  that  tears  run  down 
'  over  his  own  cheeks  in  the  doing  of  it.  That  night 
is  verily  a  night  of  triumph  in  his  work;  and  he 
begins  to  bear  a  cordial  love  to  his  calling,  as  one 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  257 

the  Lord  has  given  him  and  has  sanctified.  To  go 
round  on  New  Year's  day  however  and  wish  the  peo 
ple  joy,  that  is  what  he  can  not  make  up  his  mind 
to ;  it  is  a  festival  and  a  holiday ;  it  belongs  to  the 
Lord ;  and  it  must  be  spent  in  the  church  and  with 
the  Bible.  But  the  next  day  he  has  time,  and  then 
he  will  go ;  and  then  his  mission  box  occurs  to  him, 
which  is  still  hanging  there  on  its  nail.  Now  he 
knows  what  he  is  to  do.  He  takes  the  box  in  his 
hand  and  goes  the  rounds,  house  after  house,  and 
gives  his  good  wishes.  Everywhere  the  people  re 
ceive  his  hearty  congratulations  kindly,  and  every 
one  puts  his  hand  in  his  pocket  with  alacrity  to 
fetch  out  a  little  present  for  him ;  the  faithful  man 
has  indeed  done  his  work  so  honestly,  and  but  just 
now  has  sung  for  them  so  heartily  and  such  beau 
tiful  verses !  But  he  holds  forth  his  box  to  his  ben 
efactors,  and  begs  them  to  put  whatever  they  de 
sign  for  him  in  there,  for  what  they  give  is  to  go 
to  the  conversion  of  the  heathen.  So  upon  that 
one  asks  him  a  question,  and  another  asks  him  a 
question,  and  he  has  opportunity  to  open  his  mouth 
with  gladness  and  testify  of  the  misery  of  the  poor 
heathen,  and  of  the  sacred  duty  of  helping  them, 
that  so  they  may  be  converted.  And  God  gives 
his  blessing  both  to  deeds  and  words;  and  now  the 
man  finds  himself  able  to  send  in  not  a  little,  but  a 
good  deal,  for  the  conversion  of  the  heathen,,  who 
lie  so  heavily  on  his  heart. 

'"Do  you  ask,  where  this  happened?  and  who 
did  it?    It  happened  in  our  country,  and  six  night- 
17 


258  PINE   NEEDLES 

watchers  have  done  it.  Who  are  they  ? — Go  along 
and  ask  the  Lord  in  the  last  day ;  he  has  got  all 
their  names  written  down.  I  shall  not  tell  them  to 
you,  for  I  will  not  rob  them  of  their  blessing.  It 
might  happen  however  that  one  or  the  other  of 
them  may  read  these  lines.  If  that  be  the  case, 
then  I  say  to  him,  "  Keep  still  and  do  not  betray 
thyself,  that  thou  lose  not  thy  humility.'"" 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  259 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

"I  must  say,  Ditto,  you  read  us  the  most  extra 
ordinary  variety  of  stories ! " 

That  was  Flora's  utterance.  Meredith  however 
sat  looking  very  gravely  into  the  water,  which  was 
rolling  its  little  waves  along  at  his  feet  far  below. 
The  sun  had  got  lower  while  he  had  been  reading ; 
the  lights  and  colours  were  changing;  shadows  fell 
from  the  hill-tops  and  began  to  lie  broad  on  the 
river,  cast  from  the  western  shore ;  but  all  softened 
in  the  haze,  which  now  was  getting  in  a  strange 
way  transfused  with  light;  and  a  few  little  flecks 
of  cloud  were  taking  on  the  most  delicate  hues. 

"Mr.  Murray,"  Meredith  broke  out,  "that  story 
is  not  exaggerated !  I  mean,  the  doing  of  the  peo 
ple  in  the  story  is  not;  is  it?  " 

"  Miss  Flora  thinks  so." 

"Don't  you,  Mr.  Murray?"  said  the  young  lady. 

"Let  us  hear  your  reasons,  please." 

"Well,  Mr.  Murray,  surely  life  is  given  to  us  for 
something  besides  bare  work.  We  are  meant  to 
be  happy  and  enjoy  ourselves  a  little — aren't  we?" 

"Most  certainly." 


260  PINE    NEEDLES 

"Those  good  men, — I  dare  say  they  were  good 
men, — seem  to  me  to  have  been  mistaken." 

"You  think,  for  instance,  they  might  have  kept 
some  of  their  New  Year's  money  to  buy  their  wives 
new  dresses  ?  " 

"Yes;  or  to  get  a  good  dinner,  which  I  suppose 
they  never  had ;  or  a  carpet,  suppose,  for  the  bit  of 
a  room  they  lived  in." 

"What  do  you  say,  Esther? " 

"01  think  just  as  Flora  does,  Uncle  Eden.  I 
think  those  people  were  very  extravagant." 

"Maggie?" 

"Uncle  Eden,  I  do  not  know  if  they  were  extrav 
agant;  but  it  seems  to  me  they  might  have  kept  a 
little  for  their  own  New  Year." 

"You  all  overlook  one  thing." 

"What  is  that,  sir?"  several  voices  asked  eagerly. 

"  Those  good  men  were  not  acting  so  very  con 
trary  to  your  principle.  They  were  doing,  every 
one  of  them,  what  gave  him  the  most  pleasure  with 
his  money.  That  is  what  I  understand  you  to  ad 
vocate.  The  only  difference  is,  that  they  found 
their  pleasure  in  one  thing,  and  you  would  find 
yours  in  another." 

"  But,  Mr.  Murray, — "  Meredith  began. 

"  Yes,  Mr.  Murray,"  said  Flora  eagerly  taking  the 
words  out  of  her  brother's  mouth,  "  you  have  really 
not  said  anything.  The  question  comes  round, — 
ought  we  to  find  our  pleasure  in  what  they  did? 
and  in  nothing  else  ?  " 

"  That  is  not  the  right  way  of  putting  it.     The 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  261 

Lord  does  not  demand  that,  nor  desire  it;  but  that 
we  should  seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God.  You 
may  remember  too  that  the  spirit  of  our  life,  if  we 
are  Christians,  must  be  the  same  as  Christ's;  for 
'if  any  man  have  not  the  spirit  of  Christ,  he  is 
none  of  his.'  Now  the  motto  of  his  life  was,  '  My 
meat  is  to  do  the  will  of  him  that  sent  me.'  And 
that,  Miss  Flora,  must  make  pleasing  God  the  great 
pleasure  of  a  child  of  God." 

"That  is  what  I  think,"  said  Meredith. 

"  Then  are  we  to  have  no  pleasure  ?  "  Flora  re 
peated.  "  I  mean,  no  pleasure  of  our  own  V  " 

"  I  have  been  trying  to  explain  that.  I  do  not 
know  any  pleasure  much  sweeter  than  pleasing 
some  one  that  we  dearly  love ;  do  you  ?  " 

Flora  looked  very  gloomy. 

"  Put  out  of  your  head  any  notion  of  bondage  or 
hard  lines  of  action.  '  I  delight  to  do  thy  will,  0 
God ! ' — is  the  true  way  of  stating  it.  And  that  is 
the  only  sort  of  service,  I  think,  that  the  Lord  really 
is  pleased  with." 

"  Well,  does  he  want  us  to  do  like  those  people, 
and  give  literally  all  we  have  got,  for  the  heathen, 
or  the  poor  ?  " 

"  The  Bible  rule  is,  '  Every  man  according  as  lie 
purposeth  in  his  heart,  so  let  him  give.'  If  his  heart 
will  be  satisfied  with  nothing  less  than  all,  you 
would  not  forbid  him?" 

Meredith's  eyes  sparkled  and  he  looked  at  Flora, 
but  she  would  not  meet  him. 

"  It  may  be  and  often  is  the  case,  that  the  Lord's 


262  PINE   NEEDLES 

best  service  requires  some  of  a  man's  money  to  be 
spent  on  things  that  seem  personal ;  still,  if  he  loves 
God  best,  all  will  be  really  for  God.  Education, 
accomplishments,  knowledge,  arts,  sciences,  recre 
ation,  travel,  books — provided  only  that  in  every 
thing  and  everywhere  the  man  is  doing  the  very 
best  he  can  for  the  service  of  his  Master  and  the 
stewardship  of  his  goods.  That  does  not  shut  out 
but  increases  his  delight  in  these  things." 

"  That  is  enough ! "  exclaimed  Meredith.  "  You 
have  answered  all  my  questions,  sir.  I  see  my 
way  now." 

"  It  will  be  a  way  apart  from  mamma  and  me, 
then,  I  suppose,"  said  Flora,  her  eyes  filling  and 
her  cheeks  reddening. 

"No,"  said  Mr.  Murray  gently,  "perhaps  not. 
Meredith,  we  have  had  a  sufficient  interval  of  talk ; 
suppose  you  read  again.  I  am  selfish  in  saying  so; 
for  while  my  ears  listen,  my  eyes  can  revel  in  this 
wealth  of  colour.  What  will  you  give  us  next  ?  " 

"  May  I  choose,  sir  ?  It  touches  what  we  have 
been  talking  about,  another  little  story.  It  is  a 
story  by  the  bedside  of  a  sick  day-labourer." 

"  I  don't  believe  we  shall  like  it,  Ditto,"  said  his 
sister. 

"It  will  not  hold  us  long.     Let  me  try. — 

"  '  It  is  a  long  while  ago,  that  I  was  once  stand 
ing  by  the  bedside  of  a  sick  day-labourer,  who  had 
a  wife  and  four  children.  The  man  had  been  ill 
for  weeks,  and  the  sickness  had  swallowed  up  all 
his  money.  Death  was  near,  and  he  was  glad  of 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  263 

it ;  he  had  only  one  remaining  wish,  that  he  might 
receive  the  symbols  of  the  body  and  blood  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  in  the  holy  Communion.  I  adminis 
tered  them  to  him. 

"  *  We  sang  with  a  number  of  friends  and  neigh 
bours  who  were  gathered  together,  the  song, 

"  «  "Who  knows  how  near  my  end  may  be!" 

"  *  He  sang  the  words  correctly  along  with  us, 
for  he  knew  the  hymn  by  heart.  His  wife  and 
children  sang  too.  As  we  stopped  at  the  fifth 
verse,  I  saw  great  tears  in  his  eyes;  but  I  said 
nothing  at  the  time.  The  sick  man  spoke  his  con 
fession  devoutly  and  afterwards  received  the  bread 
and  the  wine  which  are  in  figure  the  body  and 
blood  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  His  eye  beamed 
with  joy.  Then  after  the  blessing  was  said  we 
sang  the  most  glorious  verse  of  the  same  hymn, — 
"  I  have  fed  on  Jesus'  blood,"  etc.  The  neighbours 
and  friends  went  away,  after  they  had  cordially 
pressed  his  hand  and  said  to  him,  "  In  the  Lord's 
presence  we'll  be  together  again."  I  remained 
alone  with  the  sick  man  and  his  family.  Then  I 
asked,  why  he  had  wept  when  we  were  singing? 
whether  perhaps  it  was  a  trouble  to  him  that  he 
must  go  away  from  his  wife  and  children  ?  He 
looked  at  me  with  open  eyes,  almost  reproachfully, 
when  I  said  that;  and  answered,  "Does  not  Jesus 
stay  with  them  then?  Has  not  the  Lord  said 
he  would  be  'the  father  of  the  fatherless  and  a 
judge  of  the  widow?'  No;  they  will  be  well 


264  PINE   NEEDLES 

looked  after  ;  I  have  prayed  the  Lord  that  he 
would  be  a  guardian  to  them.  Isn't  it  so,  mother, 
that  thou  art  not  worried  either,  and  thy  heart  is  not 
anxious?  Thou  too,  hast  faith  in  Jesus !"  "Sure 
ly,"  said  the  woman,  "I  believe  in  Jesus;  and  I  am 
glad  thou  art  going  to  Jesus.  In  good  time  I  will 
come  after  thee  with  the  children.  Jesus  will  help 
me  by  his  Holy  Spirit  to  bring  them  up."  "Well 
— why  did  you  shed  tears  then  ?  "  "  For  joy.  I  was 
thinking,  if  the  singing  goes  so  lovely  even  down 
here,  how  beautiful  it  will  be  when  the  angels  sing 
with  us.  That  was  what  made  me  weep,  for  joy, 
because  such  blessedness  is  so  near  before  me." 
And  now  he  made  a  sign  to  his  wife.  She  under 
stood  the  sign,  went  to  the  cupboard,  and  fetched 
out  a  little  sort  of  a  cup  dish,  which  was  her  hus 
band's  money-box.  Six  groschen  were  in  it,  all 
that  was  left  over  of  his  possessions.  He  took 
them  out  with  trembling  fingers,  laid  them  in  my 
hand,  and  said,  "The  heathen  are  to  have  those, 
that  they  too  may  learn  how  to  die  happy."  I 
looked  at  the  wife;  she  nodded  her  head  pleasant 
ly  and  said,  "We  have  agreed  upon  that.  When 
all  is  paid  that  will  be  needed  for  the  funeral,  it 
will  leave  just  these  six  groschen  over."  "And 
what  will  you  keep?"  "The  Lord  Jesus,"  said 
she.  "And  what  are  you  going  to  leave  to  your 
wife  and  children?"  'I  asked  the  man  again.  "The 
Lord  Jesus,"  said  he ;  and  with  that  whispered  me 
in  the  ear,  "  He  is  very  good  and  very  rich."  So 
I  took  the  six  groschen  for  the  heathen,  and  put 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  265 

them,  as  a  great  treasure,  in  the  mission  money 
box;  and  it  was  hard  for  me  to  give  them  out 
again;  only  if  I  had  not  paid  them  out,  I  should 
not  have  fulfilled  the  dying  man's  wish.  In  the 
following  night  he  fell  asleep.  We  buried  him  as 
a  Christian  should  be  buried,  that  is,  publicly,  with 
the  ringing  of  the  bell,  with  preaching,  singing  and 
prayer;  and  there  was  no  weeping  done,  neither 
by  his  wife  nor  by  his  three  oldest  children,  neither 
in  the  church  nor  by  the  grave.  But  the  youngest 
child,  a  boy  of  five  years  old,  who  followed  the  bier 
along  with  the  rest,  wept  bitterly.  I  asked  him 
afterwards,  why  he  had  wept  so  bitterly  at  his 
father's  grave?  The  child  answered  me,  "I  was 
so  troubled  because  father  didn't  take  me  with  him 
to  the  Lord  Jesus;  I  had  begged  him  so  hard  to 
take  me."  "My  child,"  said  I,  "your  father  could 
not  take  you  along  with  him ;  only  the  Saviour 
could  do  that;  you  ought  to  have  asked  him." 
"Shall  I  ask  him  now  then?"  he  questioned.  "No, 
my  child.  See — when  the  Saviour  wants  you,  he 
will  call  you  himself.  But  if  he  chooses  that  you 
shall  grow  to  be  a  man  first,  then  you  must  help 
your  mother  and  let  her  live  with  you.  Will  you  ?  " 
He  said,  "  I  would  like  to  go  to  Jesus;  and  I  would 
like  to  be  big  too,  so  that  mother  can  live  with  me." 
"Well,  then  say  to  the  Lord  Jesus  that  he  shall 
choose."  "That  is  what  I  will  do,"  said  the  boy; 
and  was  quite  contented  and  pleased. 

" '  The  faithful  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  give 
•us  all  a  happy  end.     Amen.' " 


2C6  PINE   NEEDLES 

There  was  the  usual  pause  after  Meredith  had 
done  reading.  Flora  however  could  not  keep  back 
long  her  expression  of  opinion. 

"  I  protest !  "  she  said.  "  Those  people  were  ut 
terly  fanatical !  Mr.  Murray  isn't  it  true  ?  " 

"  0  Uncle  Eden,  do  you  think  so  ?  "  cried  Mag 
gie.  "  I  think  it  is  beautiful." 

"  Maggie  is  too  young  to  understand,"  remarked 
Esther.  "Those  people  were  very  unnatural,  I 
think." 

"How?"  said  Meredith. 

"  Yes,  how  ?  "  Mr.  Murray  echoed.  "  I  should  like 
to  hear  the  arguments  on  both  sides." 

"  A  man  who  is  dying,  and  has  a  wife  and  four 
children,"  said  Flora  solemnly,  "has  no  right  to 
give  his  last  six  groschen  away.  I  don't  know 
how  much  a  groschen  is,  but  that  don't  make  any 
difference.  He  has  no  right  to  do  it!" 

"You  emphasize,  'a  man  who  is  dying,'"  said 
Meredith.  "Would  the  case  be  different  if  he  were 
a  man  living  and  going  to  live  ?  " 

"  Why  of  course." 

"How?" 

"He  could  work  then,  and  earn  more.  How 
stupid  to  ask,  Meredith ! " 

"But  an  accident  might  happen  to  him;  or  he 
might  fail  to  get  work;  or  he  might  miss  his  pay." 

"Yes,  of  course.  I  think  it  would  be  fanatical 
even  then.  But  when  he  was  dying,  and  couldn't 
do  anything ! —  " 

"  But  if  in  any  case  he  must  trust  for  a  day; — 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  267 

what  does  it  signify?  God  can  send  help  in  a 
day." 

"  I  should  not  think  he  would,  when  people  throw 
away  wantonly  what  they  have  got  already." 

"  What  is  given  to  Jesus  isn't  thrown  away," — 
said  Maggie. 

"And  lie  always  pays  it  back,  with  interest," 
said  Mr.  Murray.  "And  what  is  entrusted  to  him 
is  never  neglected.  I  think  that  old  German  peas 
ant  was  very  safe  in  his  proceeding." 

"  But  so  unnatural ! "  cried  Esther.  "  Not  to  be 
sorry  to  leave  his  wife  and  children !  " 

"I  have  no  doubt  he  was  very  sorry  to  leave 
them.  The  only  thing  is,  he  was  more  glad  to  go 
to  Jesus." 

"  I  cannot  understand  that." 

"  Not  till  you  know  the  Lord  yourself;  and  I  do 
not  deny  that  one  must  know  him  well,  to  be  so 
eager  to  go  to  him.  One  does  not  easily  leave  the 
known  for  the  unknown," 

"  Let  me  read  another  bit  of  a  story,  or  history," 
said  Meredith.  "We  cannot  come  to  an  agreement 
by  talking;  these  things  must  be  lived  in — must 
they  not,  Mr.  Murray?" 

"Yes,  read.  But  see  the  sky!"  said  Mr.  Murray. 
"  And  the  colours  along  the  shore !  Wonderful, 
wonderful !  What  a  Sunday  evening  this  is." 

Meredith  sat  silently  looking  for  a  few  minutes. 
With  every  quarter  of  an  hour  of  the  descending 
sun,  the  world  was  growing  now  more  like  a  fairy 
tale  world.  The  lights  and  the  shadows  and  the 


2G8  PINE   NEEDLES 

colours  were  making  such  exquisite  work,  that  the 
bit  of  earth  the  gazers  were  looking  upon  seemed 
not  to  belong  to  the  earth  of  history  or  the  life  of 
experience,  but  to  be  something  unearthly,  and 
glorified.  With  all  that,  the  Sabbath  stillness! 
There  was  the  lap  of  the  water  at  the  foot  of  the 
rocks;  the  rustle  of  the  dry  leaves  down  below 
where  Fenton  was  prowling  about;  the  call  of  the 
bugle  sounding  out  some  order  for  the  dragoons 
on  the  other  side  at  the  post ;  between  whiles  the 
absolute  repose  of  nature. 

"I  wonder  if  the  new  heavens  and  the  new  earth 
will  be  anything  like  this ! "  said  Mr.  Murray  with 
a  long  breath.  "This  is  not  like  our  common 
world.  Well,  Meredith — it  is  hard  upon  you,  but 
it  is  better  than  too  much  talking." 

"It  is  not  hard  upon  me,  sir.  I  am  getting  all 
my  ideas  cleared  up. 

"'Holy  Scripture  saith,  that  the  hearts  of  the 
children  shall  be  turned  to  the  parents,  and  the 
hearts  of  the  parents  to  the  children.  I  will  tell 
you  a  story  about  that,  which,  I  hope,  may  be  of 
use;  so  much  the  more,  that  in  this  regard  one 
sees  so  much  that  is  senseless. 

" '  I  knew  a  man  once,  who  was  the  very  ideal 
of  a  just  living,  upright,  honourable  man ;  but  Je 
sus  he  knew  not.  Among  his  fellow-men  he  was 
held  in  general,  well-deserved  esteem ;  for  he  was 
pleasant  and  winning  in  intercourse  with  them, 
and  in  his  whole  character  there  was  something 
naturally  noble.  No  prayer  was  ever  heard  in  his 


AND   OLD    YARNS.  269 

house,  neither  at  table,  nor  mornings  and  evenings, 
nor  was  ever  the  morning  and  evening  blessing 
read.  But  love  and  peace  reigned  in  the  house, 
between  parents  and  children,  and  master  and  mis 
tress  and  servants ;  and  nothing  dishonourable  was 
tolerated.  In  other  things  however,  the  way  of 
the  house  was  the  way  of  the  world  ;  card-play 
ing  was  had  there,  now  and  then  dancing,  and 
sometimes  it  might  happen  that  an  oath  came  out, 
when  the  angry  vein  was  swollen;  nevertheless, 
worldly  gaiety  was  never  permitted  to  go  beyond 
bounds;  the  man  would  not  suffer  that.  Nobody 
read  the  Bible ;  though  the  man  had  a  Bible  which 
he  had  inherited  from  his  pious  mother  and  held  in 
high  honour;  it  had  the  chief  place  on  his  book 
shelf;  but  it  was  made  no  use  of,  only  now  and 
then  taken  down  to  have  the  dust  brushed  off  it. 
This  man  had  a  whole  flock  of  children;  and  a 
wife  who  clung  to  him  with  such  inmost  affection, 
that  many  a  time  when  she  heard  his  step  on  the 
floor  she  would  call  him  into  the  room  where  she 
was,  and  when  he  came  in  and  asked  what  she 
wanted,  would  answer  him,  "0,  I  only  just  wanted 
to  see  you,  and  now  you  may  go  off  again."  In 
outward  things  he  was  pretty  comfortable;  made 
a  living,  but  also  had  a  good  deal  of  a  burden  to 
carry;  was  a  diligent  worker,  however,  and  by  lit 
tle  arid  little  got  on  in  the  world.  He  was  not 
often  seen  at  church  or  the  Lord's  Supper;  yet 
did  not  absolutely  neglect  them.  Nevertheless,  the 
man  had  a  special  spite  against  pious  people,  of 


270  PINE   NEEDLES 

whom  in  his  life  he  had  known  a  few.  Those 
pious  people  of  his  acquaintance  can  indeed  not 
have  been  of  the  right  sort;  for  from  their  example 
he  had  come  to  the  firm  persuasion  that  pious  peo 
ple,  all  and  sundry,  were  no  better  than  hypocrites. 
He  used  often  to  tell  of  a  pious  man  he  had  known, 
who  used  to  read  a  great  deal  in  the  Bible  and  in 
religious  books,  and  used  also  to  hold  meetings  for 
prayer  in  his  house,  while  at  the  same  time  he  was 
a  miser  and  put  out  his  money  to  usury.  Another 
one  he  had  known,  who  in  externals  made  as  fair 
pretences ;,  but  with  that  was  of  such  ungovernable 
temper  and  such  unmeasured  brutality  that  on  more 
than  one  occasion  he  had  beaten  a  man  nearly  to 
death.  Therefore,  as  I  said,  he  held  all  pious  peo 
ple  to  be  a  humbug.'" 

Meredith  paused  a  moment,  and  Flora  spoke  up. 

"There!"  she  said,  "/know  such  people.  Don't 
you  think,  Mr.  Murray,  that  sort  of  good  people  do 
more  harm  than  good  ?  " 

"  What  sort  of  good  people  are  they,  Miss  Flora  ?  " 

"Why  sir,  I  mean,  like  these  Meredith  was  read 
ing  about.  I  know  such  people.  They  are  selfish, 
and  envious,  and  get  angry,  care  for  nobody  in  the- 
world  but  themselves,  and  are  not  at  all  particular 
about  telling  the  truth." 

"Therefore  not  good  people." 

"  But  they  are  members  of  the  church,  sir,  and 
they  go  to  the  Communion." 

"  Don't  you  know,  the  Lord  forewarned  his  dis 
ciples  that  a  large  portion  of  his  so-called  church 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  271 

would  be  none  of  his  ?  You  need  not  be  surprised 
at  it.  It  is  just  what  he  told  us  would  be." 

"Then  how  are  we  to  know?" 

"You  can  know  with  certainty  about  your 
self,"  said  Mr.  Murray  with  a  smile.  "It  is  not 
difficult  to  find  out  in  your  own  heart,  whether 
Christ  or  self  comes  first.  For  other  people,  you 
can  afford  to  wait  till  the  judge  comes,  cannot 
you?" 

"You  are  thinking,  Flo,  are  you  not,  that  this 
man  and  his  family  were  just  about  the  right  pat 
tern  ?  "  said  her  brother. 

"I  think  such  people  are  pleasant,"  Flora  con 
fessed.  "They  make  no  pretences.  That  man 
seems  to  have  been  just  and  kind  arid  nice." 

"Ah,  you  make  a  mistake,"  said  Mr.  Murray 
again.  "We  all  make  pretences,  of  one  sort  or 
another,  true  or  false.  Such  people  as  you  are 
speaking  of  pretend  not  to  be  Christians;  and  no 
doubt  with  perfect  truth." 

"But  is  not  God  pleased  with  justice  and  kind 
ness  and  benevolence?" 

"  With  disobedience?" 

"Surely  he  commands  us  to  love  one  another?" 

"He  commands  first,  that  we  love  him" 

"Isn't  that  loving  him?" 

"Love  always  shews  itself  towards  the  beloved 
one;  afterwards  towards  the  objects  the  beloved 
one  cares  for." 

"May  I  go  on?"  said  Meredith,  as  Flora  paused. 
"  I  think  my  story  will  illustrate  this." 


272  PINE   NEEDLES 

"  Go  on,  by  all  means.  Perhaps  an  illustration 
will  make  it  clear  to  everybody." 

" '  This  man  was  a  scholar  in  the  law ;  and  was 
already  pretty  well  011  in  years,  when  one  of  his 
sons,  a  special  favourite  with  him  on  account  of 
his  fine  parts  and  who  was  just  studying  law  at 
the  time,  at  the  University,  learned  to  know  his 
'Saviour,  and  turned  to  him  with  all  his  heart.  The 
instrument  of  his  conversion  was  a  faithful  minis 
ter,  whose  preaching  he  had  attended  diligently, 
and  with  whom  he  afterwards  came  into  very  in 
timate-terms  of  intercourse.  Now  when  this  son's 
heart  was  filled  with  intense  love  to  his  Saviour, 
such  as  I  have  seen  equalled  in  few  men,  nothing 
was  more  natural  than  that  he  should  send  longing 
wishes  towards  the  parents  and  brothers  and  sis 
ters  whom  he  loved  so  tenderly ;  wishes  that  they 
too  might  learn  to  know  the  Saviour;  and  so,  in 
his  letters,  he  poured  his  whole  heart  out,  told  them 
without  reserve  what  had  gone  on  in  his  own  heart, 
and  how  he  was  now  rejoicing  in  the  certainty  that 
his  sins  were  forgiven  and  in  the  sure  hope  of  ever 
lasting  life.  "  0  that  all  men  were  as  happy  as  I ! " 
he  cried  out  in  his  letters.  For  a  long  time  he  was 
left  without  an  answer.  At  last  came  a  letter  from 
his  father;  it  ran  thus.  "My  son,  your  letters  were 
wont  always  formerly  to  be  a  refreshment  and  a 
delight  to  me;  now  on  the  contrary  they  are  a  vex 
ation  and  a  bitter  grief.  I  see  that  you  are  exactly 
in  the  way  to  become  like  those  hypocrites  of  whom 
you  used  to  hear  me  tell.  I  beg  that  you  will  either 


AND   OLD    YARNS.  273 

write  as  you  have  been  accustomed  to  do,  or  not 
write  at  all." 

"  '  The  son  answered,  "  Father,  you  have  always 
enjoined  it  upon  me  to  tell  the  truth ;  you  always 
impressed  it  upon  me  that  there  is  no  more  con 
temptible  and  cowardly  being  than  a  liar,  for  he 
has  not  even  the  spirit  to  be  honest;  and  now 
do  you  want  to  compel  me  to  be  untrue  ?  Either 
I  must  write  you  what  is  according  to  my  heart; 
for  lie  I  cannot  and  will  not,  neither  Avill  I  make 
believe;  or  I  must  indeed  do  as  you  say  and  not 
write  at  all."  This  startled  the  father,  for  he  had 
in  former  times  said  to  his  friends, — "  The  lad  will 
not  tell  a  falsehood ;  he  would  sooner  let  his  head 
be  taken  off; " — and  he  was  honest  enough  to  write 
to  his  son,  "  Well,  write  what  you  like ;  if  you  are 
not  a  hypocrite,  you  are  a  fanatic;  but  you  shall 
tell  no  lies;  there  you  are  right,  and  I  was  wrong." 

"  *  Soon  after  this  the  time  of  the  holidays  came 
about,  and  the  son  took  his  journey  to  his  parents, 
to  spend  the  holidays  with  them  as  it  was  his  wont 
to  do ;  for  it  has  been  already  remarked  that  love 
and  peace  reigned  in  that  house.  As  he  came  in, 
his  mother  met  him  with  tears,  and  looked  at  him 
in  a  very  critical  way,  as  if  she  feared  he  were  not 
right  in  his  head ;  but  he  caught  her  heartily  round 
the  neck  and  kissed  her  and  hugged  her,  whisper 
ing  at  the  same  time,  "Mother,  don't  look  at  me 
with  such  a  doubtful  face ;  I  have  got  all  my  five 
senses  yet."  Then  he  went  to  his  father  in  the  sit 
ting-room,  and  would  have  fallen  on  his  neck  too, 
18 


274  PINE   NEEDLES 

but  the  father  at  first  kept  him  off  with  all  his 
strength;  till  his  son  asked  him,  "Thou  art  my  dear 
good  father  always,  and  always  wilt  be  so ;  am  I 
thy  son  no  longer?  and  why  not?  what  have  I 
done  that  is  wrong  ?  is  reading  the  Bible  and  pray 
ing,  anything  wrong  ?  "  Then  the  father  kissed  his 
son  and  spoke — "I  must  honour  the  truth — thou 
hast  done  nothing  wrong,  my  son  !  "  For  an  hour 
or  so  they  talked  together  about  the  professors  at 
the  University,  and  about  the  lectures  the  son  had 
been  attending  there;  and  in  the  meantime  the 
mother  had  got  supper  ready,  and  they  went  to 
table.  The  son  stood  up,  folded  his  hands,  and 
prayed.  With  that,  the  father  thrust  his  chair 
back  till  it  cracked,  and  ran  out  of  the  room,  and 
the  mother  full  of  anxiety,  ran  after  him.  The  son 
however  did  not  follow  them,  but  after  he  had 
heartily  prayed  for  his  father  and  his  mother,  he 
sat  down,  and  with  tears  eat  his  supper.  When  he 
found  his  parents  did  not  come  back,  he  sought  his 
own  room,  and  once  more  poured  out  his  heart 
before  his  faithful  God  and  Saviour ;  then  he  slept 
quietly  until  morning.  Next  morning,  naturally 
the  first  thing  was  to  go  at  his  prayers  again ;  then 
he  read  a  chapter  in  his  beloved  Bible;  and  went 
afterwards  to  the  dwelling-room,  as  he  was  accus 
tomed.  His  father  was  there,  sitting  in  his  arm 
chair,  and  turned  pale  one  minute  and  red  the  next. 
The  son  gave  him  his  hand  cordially  and  bade  him 
good  morning,  and  to  his  mother  as  well.  "  My 
son,"  his  father  then  asked  him,  "are  you  master  in 


AND    OLD    YARNS.  275 

the  house  ?  or  am  I  ?  "  The  son  answered,  "  Who 
but  you,  father?"  "Why  do  you  take  upon  you 
then  to  introduce  prayer  at  meals,  seeing  you  know 
that  it  is  not  our  habit  here  ?  "  "  Father,"  the  son 
answered,  "did  I  then  say  that  you  and  my  mother 
were  to  pray  ?  I  asked  expressly  only,  '  Come,  Lord 
Jesus,  be  my  guest' — whereas  elsewhere  usually 
the  prayer  is,  '  be  our  guest.'  I  knew  it  was  not 
your  custom  to  pray ;  therefore  it  would  have  been 
an  untruth  to  say,  'our  guest,'  and  that  would 
have  been  assuming,  too,  for  it  would  have  been 
trying  to  draw  you  in."  "But  why  did  you  not 
let  the  whole  thing  entirely  alone?  you  knew  veiy 
well  we  have  no  such  regulation  here."  "  Not  for 
you,  father;  for  me,  however,  there  is  such  a  reg 
ulation;  and  if  I  had  taken  my  supper  without 
praying,  I  should  have  been  false  to  my  God;  and 
it  is  certainly  not  your  pleasure  that  I  should  be 
false  towards  God,  since  you  cannot  endure  any 
falsehood  towards  men."  "No,"  said  his  father, 
"you  are  not  to  be  false;  well,  pray  away,  for  all 
I  care;  but  only  when  we  are  alone,  not  when 
strangers  are  by,  else  we  should  become  a  laugh 
ing-stock."  "  Father,  I  could  not  be  untrue  to  God 
for  my  own  dear  father's  sake;  should  I  for  the 
sake  of  strangers  ?  I  am  not  ashamed  of  my  God 
and  Saviour  before  any  man,  neither  before  stran 
gers  nor  before  the  king  himself;  and  I  will  be 
faithful  and  true  to  my  God.  If  it  is  not  your 
pleasure  to  have  this  thing  done  when  strangers 
are  present,  then  do  not  call  me  to  table."  The 


276  PINE   NEEDLES 

father  said,  "  Boy,  where  did  you  get  your  pluck  ?  " 
"I  love  the  Lord,"  the  son  answered,  "who  has 
redeemed  me;  I  would  go  into  death  a  thousand 
times  for  him."  "You  are  no  hypocrite,  my  boy," 
said  the  father;  "well,  for  all  I  care  you  may  be 
pious,  if  you  only  will  not  be  a  hypocrite.'" 

"'From  that  time  the  ice  was  broken;  and  I 
have  myself  seen  it  with  my  own  eyes,  how  fa 
ther  and  mother  and  son  used  to  read  together  in 
the  Bible,  pray  and  sing  together,  and  how  the 
brothers  and  sisters  one  after  the  other  turned  to 
the  Lord.  Rarely  have  I  known  a  house  in  which 
the  Lord  Jesus  was  so  fearlessly  acknowledged  as 
in  that  house.  And  do  you  know  what  of  this  his 
tory  I  would  like  to  inscribe  in  your  hearts,  yea, 
would  like  to  burn  into  your  hearts  with  letters  of 
fire  ?  It  is  this.  Let  your  Christianity  be  no  lip- 
work;  let  your  religion  not  consist  in  words;  lip- 
work  Christianity  is  hypocritical  Christianity.  True 
religion  is  a  fact.  The  genuine  believer  is  upright 
and  makes  no  pretence,  neither  to  God  nor  man. 
The  heartfelt  conviction — "  Boy,  you  are  no  hypo 
crite  " — ought  to  be  forced  upon  the  beholder  by  the 
walk  and  behaviour  of  every  real  believer ;  if  that 
had  been  the  case,  the  world  would  present  a  differ 
ent  aspect  from  what  it  offers  now.  But  most  peo 
ple's  Christianity  is  a  fashion  of  speech ;  and  so  it  is 
lying  and  hypocrisy;  therefore  it  can  at  one  and 
the  same  time,  like  Pilate,  chastise  and  set  free, 
pray  and  neglect  prayer,  confess  and  not  confess, 
just  as  happens  to  be  convenient  in  the  circurn- 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  277 

stances.  It  is  not  required  that  you  should  preach 
to  everybody  you  fall  in  with,  as  if  it  were  your 
vocation  to  set  up  lights  for  everybody's  guidance ; 
much  more  would  often  be  spoiled  than  mended  in 
that  way.  But  to  be  a  Christian,  to  walk  as  a 
Christian,  and  thus  to  confess  one's  Christianity 
honestly  in  action,  just  because  it  is  so  and  you  are 
not  going  to  be  false  either  towards  God  or  towards 
men;  that  is  the  way  in  which  the  hearts  of  the 
parents  are  turned  to  the  children  and  the  hearts 
of  the  children  turned  to  the  parents.' " 


278  PINE  NEEDLES 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

The  sun  had  got  low,  in  fact  he  was  dipping  be 
hind  the  dark  line  of  Eagle  hill;  and  everybody 
looked  and  watched.  The  bright  ball  of  fiery  gold 
disappeared,  leaving  a  trail  of  glory;  lights  glowed 
against  shadows  on  the  hazy  hill  shore ;  little  flecks 
of  cloud  in  the  west  grew  gorgeous,  and  a  low-lying 
rack  of  vapour  in  the  southeast  took  on  the  loveliest 
changes  of  warm  browns  and  purples  and  greys. 
And  as  the  sun  got  further  below  the  horizon  the 
cloud  scenery  became  but  the  more  resplendent. 

"Mr.  Murray,"  Flora  began,  "you  will  think  I 
am  always  taking  objections." 

"Well,  Miss  Flora— what  now?" 

"  Please  to  criticise  this  story  Ditto  has  been  read 
ing.  I  would  rather  you  did  it  than  I." 

"  By  *  criticise '  you  mean,  find  fault  ?  " 

"  If  you  see  reason." 

"  Suppose  I  do  not  see  reason  ?  " 

"  But  do  you  not,  really  ?  " 

"Wherein?" 

"  Mr.  Murray,  I  like  things  kept  to  their  proper 
places." 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  279 

"  We  are  agreed  there." 

"  And  I  think  it  is  a  pity  to  make  religious  ob 
servances,  or  what  are  meant  for  them,  repelling 
arid  disgusting  to  other  people." 

"Certainly.     As  how,  for  instance,  Miss  Flora?" 

"  Well,  I  never  like  to  see  people — I  have  seen  it 
— make  a  show  of  praying  at  table,  where  no  gen 
eral  blessing  has  been  asked  by  the  person  at  the 
head  of  the  table  or  a  minister.  It  just  makes  them 
conspicuous,  and  as  good  as  says  that  they  are  the 
only  right  people  there." 

"That  is  not  a  pleasant  impression  to  receive." 

"No,  and  I  did  not  receive  it.  I  thought  it  was 
a  mistake.  And  quite  ill-bred." 

"  But  perhaps  those  people  felt  that  they  wanted 
a  particular  blessing,  where  there  was  no  general 
blessing  asked,  as  you  say." 

"They  might  ask  for  it  quietly,  secretly." 

"  Yes.     Would  they  get  it  ?  " 

"Why  Mr.  Murray!  Doesn't  the  Lord  always 
hear  prayer?" 

"No.  It  is  written — 'He  that  turneth  away  his 
ear  from  hearing  the  law,  even  his  prayer  shall  be 
abomination.' " 

"But  what  law  is  there  about  saying  grace  at 
meals,  in  public  ?  " 

"There  is  this,  Miss  Flora.  'Whosoever  shall 
confess  me  before  men,  him  will  I  also  confess' — " 

"But  everywhere,  Mr.  Murray?  Must  we  be 
confessing  every ivhere  ?  " 

"  What  places  would  you  make  the  exception  ?  " 


280  PINE    NEEDLES 

Flora  was  silent. 

"  Public  places  in  general  ?  " 

Still  Flora  was  silent. 

"  Allow  me  to  ask — Do  you  approve  of  the  cus 
tom  anywhere  of  asking  a  blessing  upon  our  meat?" 

"  Certainly — in  one's  own  house.  Papa  did  it  al 
ways.  Meredith  does  it." 

"  Then,  Miss  Flora,  if  it  is  a  right  thing  to  do  at 
home,  how  is  it  not  a  right  thing  to  do  abroad?" 

"Everywhere,  Mr.  Murray?  Would  you  do  it  in 
a  restaurant  ?  " 

"  If  it  is  a  right  thing  to  do,  Miss  Flora  ? — why 
not  in  a  restaurant  ?  " 

"Or  in  somebody  else's  house  perhaps,  where  it 
is  not  the  custom  ?  " 

"Why  not?" 

"  Why  it  seems  to  me  like  a  sort  of  preaching  to 
people;  like  saying  to  them  that  you  are  better 
than  they  are;  setting  one's  self  up." 

"  Pardon  me — how  can  it  be  setting  myself  up, 
to  thank  my  Father  in  heaven  for  what  he  has 
given  me,  and  to  ask  him  to  let  me  have  also  a 
blessing  with  it  ?  " 

"  Why  couldn't  you  do  it  quietly  ?  " 

"I  should  always  in  such  places  do  it  quietly; 
not  aloud." 

"But  I  mean, — without  letting  anybody  know 

"  Why  should  not  people  know  it  ?  " 
"  Excuse  me,  Mr.  Murray ;  but  I  always  think  it 
is  making,  a  show^-making  a  pretence." 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  281 

"  If  it  is  a  pretence,  the  worse  for  me,  whether 
at  home  or  abroad.  But  a  slioio  I  want  it  to  be, 
Miss  Flora ;  a  show  that  I  am  a  child  of  God,  and 
love  to  own  my  Father's  hand  everywhere." 

"You  are  very  good  to  let  me  talk  just  what  I 
think,  without  being  offended,"  said  Flora.  "  You 
will  not  think  me  rude,  Mr.  Murray  ?  I  really  want 
to  know  your  opinions.  Don't  you  think  that  in 
such  things  there  is  a  tacit  implied  reproof  of  the 
other  persons  present  who  do  not  as  you  do  ?  " 

"  How  can  I  help  that  ?  " 

"  But  is  that  polite  ?  " 

"That  question  sinks  before  the  other — Is  it 
duty?" 

"  I  cannot  see  it  to  be  duty,"  said  Flora. 

"I  have  always  been  a  little  confused  about 
it,"  said  Meredith;  "in  such  cases  and  places,  I 
mean." 

"It  makes  one  very  disagreeably  singular,"  Flora 
added. 

"It  is  impossible  to  follow  Christ  fully,  Miss 
Flora,  and  not  be  that,  more  or  less." 

"Disagreeably  singular,  Mr.  Murray?" 

"  I  agree  with  you,  I  am  sure,  in  thinking  that 
it  is  disagreeable  to  be  singular." 

"  But  must  one  ?  I  always  thought  it  was  such 
bad  taste." 

"  You  perceive  it  is  not  a  question  of  taste." 

"  Why  then  of  necessity  ?  " 

"Because  whoever  follows  the  Lord  fully  will  live 
in  a  way  the  very  opposite  of  that  which  is  followed 


282  PINE   NEEDLES 

by  the  world.  He  will  be  marked  out  from  it — 
even  as  the  Lord  was  himself." 

"Still,  one  is  not  to  make  one's  self  unnecessarily 
odd,"  said  Meredith;  '"and  I  have  until  now  been 
in  doubt  whether  people  did  not  do  it  in  this  very 
matter  of  asking  a  blessing  at  tables  where  nobody 
else  followed  the  practice." 

"  I  am  sure  it  is  not  unnecessar}*,"  said  Mr.  Mur 
ray.  "  I  am  sure  that  thought  is  a  temptation  of 
the  enemy.  I  am  sure  that  the  simple  fact  of  hav 
ing,  though  in  so  small  a  matter,  shewn  one's  col 
ours  and  confessed  Christ,  is  a  help  all  through 
the  day  to  go  on  confessing  him,  as  occasion  may 
serve." 

Silence  fell  after  this,  and  some  of  the  party  no 
ticed  how  the  sky  and  clouds  were  changing.  The 
sun  had  sunk  below  the  actual  horizon  now ;  long 
since  he  had  dipped  behind  Eagle  hill;  and  the 
gold  and  the  purple  were  fading  from  the  racks  of 
vapour  which  had  caught  and  given  the  colours  so 
brilliantly.  Pale  purple,  pale  fawn,  ashes  of  roses, 
then  soft  greys  succeeded  one  another.  The  east 
ern  hills  had  lost  their  light;  the  shadows  were 
gone ;  night  was  softly  letting  her  mantle  fall  on 
the  world.  Still  the  little  party  sat  on  the  rock, 
and  looked,  and  felt  the  soft  breath  of  the  air, 
and  watched  the  fading  glory.  Nobody  wanted 
to  move,  and  twilight  would  last  long  enough  to 
let  them  get  home ;  and  so  they  waited.  Feiiton, 
I  suppose  had  gone  home,  for  they  heard  the  rustle 
of  his  footsteps  no  longer.  By  and  by,  as  they 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  283 

watched  the  grey  strips  of  vapour  which  had  been 
so  brilliant  a  little  while  ago,  they  began  to  change 
again.  The  greys  took  on  a  purplish  warm  hue, 
which  brightened  and  brightened,  and  then  pure 
carmine  began  to  touch  the  soft  under  folds  and 
edges  of  the  clouds,  increasing  in  vividness,  until 
over  all  the  sky  every  speck  and  mass  of  vapour 
was  glowing  in  brilliant  crimson.  For  a  few  min 
utes  this;  and  then  it  too  faded,  and  rapidly  the 
crimson  sank  to  purple  and  the  purple  back  to 
grey,  -and  all  knew  that  the  reign  of  night  and 
shades  would  be  broken  no  more  till  the  sun  rising. 
Slowly  the  little  party  got  up  from  the  rock;  un 
willingly  they  turned  their  backs  upon  it ;  linger- 
ingly  they  left  the  place  which  had  been  so  pleas 
ant,  and  took  their  way  down  the  hill  through  the 
gathering  dusk.  The  walk  was  still  very  pretty ; 
Maggie  held  her  uncle's  hand,  the  others  clustered 
round,  and  they  went  running  and  skipping  till  the 
level  land  was  reached,  then  slowly  again,  as  if 
loath  to  have  the  evening  quite  come  to  an  end. 

It  was  pleasure  of  another  sort  to  gather  round 
the  tea-table,  bright  with  lights  and  covered  with 
good  things. 

"I  do  not  think,"  Meredith  observed,  "that  I 
ever  enjoyed  more  in  one  day." 

"  Lucky  for  you !  "  said  Fenton.  "  I  don't  see 
the  use  of  having  Sundays,  for  my  part." 

"  How  can  you  help  having  them  ?  "  said  Maggie. 
"They  must  come,  just  like  Saturdays,  or  Mondays." 

"That's  deep !  "  said  Fenton.     "  But  if  they  must 


284  PINE   NEEDLES 

come,  as  you  have  originally  discovered,  why  can't 
one  use  them  reasonably." 

"As  how?"  said  Mr.  Murray,  preventing  an  eager 
outbreak  of  Maggie's. 

"  Like  other  days.  Why  shouldn't  I  fish,  for  in 
stance?  or  shoot  partridges?  The  fish  don't  know 
the  difference.  Why  should  one  mope  on  one  par 
ticular  day  ?  " 

"  I  never  do,"  said  his  uncle.  "  I  am  sorry  you 
have  such  a  bad  taste." 

"  As  what,  sir  ?  "  (fiercely). 

"As  to  mope." 

"  How's  a  fellow  to  do  anything  else  ?  " 

"  Depends  on  himself." 

"  Well,  what's  the  use  of  my  not  fishing  ?  Why 
shouldn't  I  fish  on  Sunday  ?  " 

"  Donrt  you  know  ?  " 

"No,  I  don't,"  said  Fenton.  "That's  just  it.  If 
I  knew  any  good  reason,  of  course  it  would  be  dif 
ferent."  And  he  sagely  muttered  something  about 
"  priestcraft." 

"There  are  two  reasons,"  said  Mr.  Murray  calmly, 
while  Maggie  flushed  up  and  even  Esther  stared 
at  her  brother. 

"  I  never  knew  any,"  responded  Fenton. 

"  Do  you  care  to  know  them  ?  " 

"If  they  are  reasons,"  Fenton  rejoined  impu 
dently,  "it  would  be  unreasonable  not  to  care." 

"Very  true,"  said  Mr.  Murray  smiling.  "I  will 
begin  with  the  lesser  of  the  two.  It  is  found  in 
the  nature  of  man,  Fenton.  Man  is  so  constituted 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  285 

that  lie  cannot,  year  in  and  year  out,  stand  a  seven 
days'  strain.  Neither  brain  nor  muscle  will  bear 
it.  That  has  been  tested  and  proved.  In  the  long 
run,  man  cannot  do  as  much,  working  seven  days, 
as  he  can  do  working  only  six  days." 

Fenton  knew  that  what  his  uncle  gave  as  a  fact 
was  likely  to  be  a  fact;  he  had  no  answer  ready  at 
first.  Then  he  said,  "I  spoke  of  fishing,  sir;  that 
is  play,  not  work." 

"As  you  do  it,  I  suppose  it  is.  But  we  are  talk 
ing  of  the  fact  of  one  day  in  seven  being  set  apart 
from  the  rest,  arid  the  reasons.  You  see  one  reason." 

"What's  the  other?" 

"The  other  is  still  more  difficult  to  deal  with. 
It  consists  in  this — that  God  says  the  day  is  his. 
As  Ruler  and  King  of  the  world,  he  lays  his  hand 
upon  that  seventh  day  and  says,  This  is  mine." 

"  I  don't  see  any  reason  in  that,"  said  Fenton. 

"  No.  But  you  see  the  claim  and  the  command. 
Those  must  be  met,  or  disobeyed  at  our  peril." 

"What's  the  use?" 

"One  great  use  is,  to  remember  and  acknowledge 
that  God  is  Ruler  and  Owner  of  all.  So  when  we 
cross  the  boundary  between  Saturday  and  Sunday, 
we  step  over  on  ground  that  is  not  ours." 

"There  is  no  good  in  being  stiff  and  pokey,"  said 
Fenton. 

"  No.  It  is  only  a  stranger  on  the  ground  who 
can  be  that.  One  who  knows  the  Lord  and  loves 
him,  is  specially  at  home  and  free  on  the  Lord's 
day." 


' 


286  PINE   NEEDLES 

"But  I  thought  the  Jewish  Sabbath  was  done 
away  ?  "  said  Flora. 

"The  formal  Jewish  Sabbath.  But  not  the  spir 
itual.  If  you  study  the  matter,  you  will  see  that 
Christ  made  careful  exceptions  to  the  literal  rule  in 
only  three  cases — where  mercy,  or  necessity,  or 
God's  service  demand  that  it  shall  be  broken." 

"  Don't  you  think  a  farmer  ought  to  get  in  his 
hay  on  Sunday,  sir,  if  he  saw  a  storm  coining  up?" 
Fenton  asked. 

"  I  dare  not  make  any  other  exceptions  than  the 
Lord  made,"  his  uncle  answered. 

"  Don't  you  think  trains  ought  to  run  on  Sunday, 
Mr.  Murray  ?  "  said  Flora. 

"  I  must  say  the  same  thing  to  you,  Miss  Flora." 

"  But  in  cases  of  sickness  and  accident,  sir  ?  " 

"Have  you  the  notion  that  Sunday  trains  are 
filled  with  persons  who  have  been  summoned  some 
where  by  telegraph  ?  " 

»  No — but  there  are  such  cases." 

"Yes;  well.  Do  you  think,  honestly,  that  thou 
sands  of  people  ought  to  break  the  Lord's  rule  every 
Sunday,  in  order  to  give  relief  here  and  there  to 
the  anxiety  of  one  ?  " 

"  I  can  tell  you,"  Fenton  broke  out,  "  your  doc 
trine  is  furiously  unfashionable.  There  is  not  a  fel 
low  in  our  school  that  doesn't  do  as  he  has  a  mind 
to  on  Sunday." 

"  Other  days  too,  I  suppose." 

"Of  course." 

"That  is  just  what,  in  your  sense,  a  Christian 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  287 

gives  up ;  not  on  Sunday  more  than  on  other  days. 
That  is  the  difference  between  a  Christian  and  an 
other  man;  one  does  his  OAvn  will  and  the  other 
the  will  of  God,  which  is  also  his  own." 

Fenton  muttered  something  to  Esther,  who  sat 
next  him,  about  an  "old  fogy,"  but  the  subject  of 
conversation  was  carried  no  further.  Mr.  Murray 
purposely  changed  it,  and  the  evening  passed  in 
very  pleasant  talk,  alternating  with  some  Bible 
reading.  Only,  towards  the  close  of  the  evening 
Fenton  started  the  question,  "where  they  would 
go  the  next  day  ?  " 

"  Suppose  we  leave  that  for  Monday  to  take  care 
of,"  Mr.  Murray  answered. 

"  But,  sir,  there  might  be  some  arrangements  to 
make." 

"To-night?" 

"  Perhaps;  but  at  any  rate  I  might  want  to  give 
some  orders  in  the  morning." 

"  I  don't  think  we  should  have  a  good  time,  if 
we  consulted  about  it  now." 

"Why  not,  sir?" 

"  You  forget.  It  is  the  Lord's  time.  And  if  we 
want  him  to  give  us  his  favour  on  our  expedition, 
it  seems  to  me  we  had  better  not  offend  him  about 
it  beforehand." 

"But,  sir!  —  " 

"But,  Mr.  Murray!" — put  in  Flora.  "Just  to 
speak  about  things?" 

"  Time  enough  to-morrow,  Miss  Flora.  And  this 
is  the  Lord's  time,  you  know." 


. 

288  PINE   NEEDLES 

"  But  just  talking — not  doing  anything  ?  " 

"Doing  a  good  deal  in  imagination.  What's 
the  difference  ?  Study  the  fifty-eighth  chapter  of 
Isaiah,  the  last  two  verses.  Sir  Matthew  Hale 
gave  it  as  his  testimony,  that  he  found  business 
concocted  on  Sunday  did  not  run  off  well  in  the 
week.  No,  we  will  leave  the  question  till  to-mor 
row  at  breakfast  if  you  please." 

"  I  can't  understand  it !  "  said  Flora  as  she  went 
upstairs. 

"Study  those  verses  in  Isaiah,"  said  Meredith, 
who  overheard  her. 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  289 


CHAPTEK    XVIII. 

A  bright  little  party  gathered  round  the  break 
fast  table  Monday  morning. 

"Now,  Uncle  Eden,"  cried  Maggie,  "where  shall 
we  go  to-day  ?  It  is  Monday  now." 

"What  is  proposed?" 

Several  plans  were  ready. 

"Down  in  the  cove  of  the  bay,"  said  Fenton, 
"  where  the  lower  brook  comes  in — then  I  can  fish 
off  Old  Woman's  rock  till  lunch  is  ready." 

"  I  propose  the  Indian  falls,"  said  Esther.  "Flora 
and  Meredith  have  never  seen  them." 

"  I  say,  Fort  Montgomery,"  said  Maggie. 

"  Fort  Montgomery ! "  There  was  a  general  ex 
clamation. 

"Where  is  that?"  Meredith  asked. 

"  Seven  miles  down  the  river.  0  it  is  just  love 
ly  !  "  Maggie  explained.  "  We  go  down  with  the 
tide  and  come  back  with  the  tide,  and  spend  the 
day  down  on  the  hill  there,  opposite  Anthony's 
Nose.  I  shewed  you  from  the  front  door  which  An 
thony's  Nose  is,  Ditto." 
19 


290  PINE   NEEDLES 

"  That  would  be  delightful.  The  day  is  going  to 
be  perfectly  quiet  and  warm  and  sunny — just  the 
thing." 

"  Seven  miles,"  Fenton  grunted.  "  Who's  going 
to  do  the  rowing  ?  " 

"  I,"  said  Meredith. 

"  And  I,"  said  Mr.  Murray. 

"  And  we  can  take  Fairbairn,"  said  Maggie ;  "  and 
we  had  better,  for  there  will  be  the  baskets  to  carry." 

"Nonsense — I  can  carry  baskets,"  said  Meredith; 
"and  get  wood,  and  all  that." 

"  I  think  we  can  do  without  Fairbairn,"  said 
Mr.  Murray.  "  I  like  the  plan.  It  is  just  the  day 
for  it.  If  it  only  turn  out  to  be  just  the  time  of 
tide  also! — " 

"We'll  soon  see  about  that,"  cried  the  boys. 
There  was  a  rush  and  a  whoop  and  a  race  to  the 
boat-house,  and  then  a  more  leisurely  return. 

"  It's  all  right,"  said  Meredith.  "  Couldn't  be  bet- 
ter.  It  is  half  past  eight  now,  and  the  tide  just  be 
ginning  to  turn.  It  will  be  running  down  till  two 
o'clock — and  just  give  us  a  nice  current  home." 

"And  a  good  pull  too,"  said  Fenton. 

"  That's  all  right,  old  boy.  Corne !  don't  you  pull 
backwards.  Now,  how  soon  can  we  be  ready  ?  " 

"Just  as  soon  as  we  can  get  our  lunch  ready, 
and  the  things,"  said  Maggie.  "  You  might  pack 
the  things,  Ditto,  and  get  them  into  the  boat,  while 
we  see  about  lunch." 

i4 What  are  'things'?" 

44  Why,  cups  and  saucers,   and  tea-kettle,   and 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  291 

matches,  and  plates,  and  paper  to  light  the  fire, 
and  everything,  you  know." 

"  Go  off,"  said  Mr.  Murray,  "  and  see  about  vic 
tualling-  the  ship.  I  can  manage  the  cups  and 
saucers." 

So  Maggie  and  Esther  ran  to  consult  Betsey,  who 
now  held  a  nondescript  position  of  usefulness  in 
the  family  and  was  acting  cook  while  Mrs.  Candlish 
was  away ;  cook  proper  being  absent  on  leave. 

"0  Betsey,  we  are  going  out,  to  be  gone  all  day; 
and  now,  what  can  we  have  for  lunch  ?  " 

"  Lunch,  Miss  Maggie  ! — " 

"Yes,  and  you  know  we  want  a  good  deal.  There 
are  six  of  us." 

"  You  know,  it's  Monday." 

"Well,  what  of  it?" 

"There  h'aint  so  much  as  if  t'was  any  other  day. 
You  see,  yesterday  it  was  Sunday." 

"0  well!  what  have  we  got,  Betsey?  I  know 
you  have  got  something." 

"There's  bread,  Miss  h'Esther." 

"We  want  more  than  bread.  And  butter,  and 
tea  and  coffee  and  all  that.  We  must  have  some 
thing  more,  Betsey.  What  have  you  got? " 

"  The  chickens  is  nothing  left  of  'em ;  and  that 
'am  bone  h'aint  got  much  on  it.  I  do  think,  Miss 
Maggie,  ye  consume  a  great  deal  in  the  woods ! " 

"  Of  course  we  do.  And  we  want  a  good,  hearty 
lunch  to-day,  because  the  boys  and  Uncle  Eden  will 
have  a  long  way  to  row.  Come,  Betsey,  make 
haste." 


292  PINE   NEEDLES 

"There  h'aint  a  living  thing  in  the  'ouse,  but 
h'oysters,  and  li'eggs,  and  potatoes.  That  is,  noth 
ing  cooked.  And  ye  want  dressed  meat." 

"  Oysters  ?  "  said  Maggie  doubtfully. 

"  Capital,"  said  Esther.  "  And  sweet  potatoes. 
We  can  bake  them  in  the  ashes.  And  eggs  are 
good.  Meredith  will  make  us  another  friar's  ome 
let." 

"  There's  nothing  else  for  ye,"  said  Betsey  sum 
ming  up. 

So  Fairbairn  carried  a  great  bag  of  oysters  down 
to  the  boat,  and  a  basket  with  the  potatoes  and 
eggs,  and  the  kettle,  and  a  pail  to  fetch  water  in. 
And  into  other  baskets  went  everything  else  that 
everybody  could  think  of  as  possibly  wanting  from 
the  house.  Affghan  and  worsted,  finally,  and  the 
merry  party  themselves. 

Ten  o'clock,  and  a  soft,  fair,  mild  day  as  could 
ever  have  been  wished  for.  Not  much  haze  to-day, 
yet  a  tempered  sunlight,  such  as  October  rejoices 
in.  No  wind,  and  a  blue  sky  far  more  tender  in 
hue  and  less  intense  than  that  of  summer.  Little 
racks  of  cloud  scattered  along  the  horizon  were, 
like  everything  else  in  nature,  quiet  and  at  rest;  no 
hurry,  no  driving ;  no  storms,  no  ripening  sun-heat ; 
earth's  harvests  gathered  in  and  done  for  that  year, 
and  nature  at  rest  and  at  play.  And  with  slow 
leisurely  strokes  of  the  oar  the  little  boat  fell  down 
with  the  tide;  she  was  at  play  too.  Sunshades 
were  not  opened ;  shawls  were  not  unfolded ;  in  the 
perfection  of  atmosphere  and  temperature  there 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  293 

was  nothing  to  do  but  to  breathe  and  enjoy.  At 
first  even  talking  was  checked  by  the  calm  beauty, 
the  grand  hush,  of  earth  and  sky.  The  boat  crossed 
over  to  Gee's  Point,  and  from  there  coasted  down 
under  the  shore.  There  the  colours  of  the  woods 
shewed  plainly  in  their  variety ;  dark  red  oaks,  olive 
green  cedars,  dusky  chestnut  oaks  arid  purple  ashes ; 
with  now  and  then  a  hickory  in  clear  gold,  or  a 
maple  flaunting  in  red  and  yellow.  They  all  suc 
ceeded  one  another  in  turn,  with  ever  fresh  com 
binations;  on  the  opposite  shore  the  same  thing 
softened  by  distance;  overhead  that  clear,  pale  blue 
of  October. 

"I  do  not  realize  that  I  am  living  in  the  common 
world !  "  said  Flora  at  last.  "  I  seem  to  be  floating 
somewhere  in  fairy-land." 

"  It's  October — that  is  all,"  said  Mr.  Murray. 

"  Then  I  never  saw  October  before." 

"  Aren't  you  glad  to  make  his  acquaintance ! " 
said  her  brother. 

"But  how  can  one  come  down  to  November 
after  it?" 

"  Oh,  November  is  lovely  \  "  cried  Maggie.  "  It 
is  lovely  here." 

"At  Mosswood?  Well,  I  can  believe  it.  But 
at  Leeds  November  comes  with  a  scowl  and  a  blus 
ter  and  takes  one  by  the  shoulders  and  gives  one 
a  shake — to  put  one  in  order  for  winter,  I  suppose." 

44 1  don't  think  shaking  puts  anything  in  order," 
remarked  Esther. 

"No.     Now  this  —  '"  said  Flora  wistfully  looking 


294  PINE   NEEDLES 

around  her — "  this  comes  as  near  making  me  feel 
good,  as  anything  can." 

"  Take  a  lesson —  "  said  Mr.  Murray. 

"  But  after  all,  the  months  must  be  according  to 
their  nature,"  said  Flora. 

"Certainly.  The  difference  is,  that  you  may 
choose  what  manner  of  nature  you  will  be  of.  It 
all  depends,  you  know,"  Mr.  Murray  went  on  smil 
ing,  "on  how  much  of  the  sun  the  months  get. 
And  on  how  much  of  the  Sun  you  get." 

"  How  can  I  choose  ?  "  said  Flora. 

"  How  ?  Why,  you  may  be  in  the  full  sunshine 
all  the  time  if  you  like." 

Again  the  boat  dropped  down  stream  silently. 
The  way  was  long;  seven  miles  is  a  good  deal  in  a 
row-boat;  so  they  took  it  leisurely  and  enjoyed  to 
the  full  the  consciousness  that  it  was  a  long  way, 
and  they  should  have  a  great  deal  of  it.  By  and 
by  they  came  to  a  little  rocky  island  or  prom 
ontory,  connected  with  the  main  land  by  marsh 
meadows  at  least  if  by  nothing  more,  to  get  round 
which  they  had  to  make  quite  a  wide  sweep.  When 
they  had  passed  it  and  drew  in  to  the  shore  again, 
they  were  already  nearing  the  southern  hills  which 
from  Mosswood  looked  so  distant  and  seemed  to 
lock  into  one  another.  They  had  the  same  seem 
ing  still,  though  standing  out  now  in  brighter  tints 
and  new  and  detailed  beauty.  On  and  on  the 
little  boat  went,  coasting  along.  No  further  break 
in  the  line  of  shore  for  a  good  while;  only  they 
were  nearing  and  nearing  that  nest  of  hills.  At 


AND    OLD    YARNS.  295 

last  they  came  abreast  of  one  or  two  houses,  where 
a  well-defined  road  came  down  to  the  river. 

"  Do  we  land  here  ?  "  asked  Flora. 

"Not  yet.  Round  on  the  other  side  of  that  bluff 
we  shall  come  to  a  creek,  with  a  mill;  that  is  the 
place.  Are  you  in  a  hurry  ?  " 

"  I  should  like  to  sail  so  all  day! " 

They  floated  down  with  the  tide  and  a  little 
movement  of  the  oars;  there  was  absolutely  no 
wind.  The  sloops  and  schooners  in  the  river  drift 
ed  or  swung  at  anchor.  Hardly  a  leaf  moved  on 
a  stem.  The  tide  ran  fast  hoNvever,  and  the  lit 
tle  boat  slipped  easily  past  the  gay  banks,  with 
their  kaleidoscope  changes  of  colour.  This  piece 
of  the  way  nevertheless  seemed  long,  just  because 
the  inexperienced  were  constantly  expecting  it  to 
come  to  an  end;  but  on  and  on  the  boat  glided 
and  there  was  never  a  creek  or  a  mill  to  be  seen. 

"Uncle  Eden,"  said  Maggie,  "there  used  to  be 
a  creek  here  somewhere." 

"Certainly." 

"There  is  none  here  now,"  said  Flora. 

"  That  you  see." 

"I  can  look  along  the  shore  for  a  good  way, 
Mr.  Murray.  Are  we  going  quite  down  to  those 
mountains  V  " 

"  Xo.     You  will  see  the  creek  presently." 

"The  banks  seem  without  the  least  break  in 
them." 

"It  will  not  do  to  trust  appearances.  Have  you 
not  found  that  out  yet  ?  " 


296  PINE   NEEDLES 

"I  tell  you  what;  I'm  getting  hungry,"  said  Fen- 
ton,  who  was  taking  his  turn  at  the  oars. 

"  Eleven  o'clock.  You  will  have  to  control  your 
impatience  for  some  time  yet,"  said  Meredith. 

"  I  can  tell  you,  this  boat  is  awfully  heavy,"  said 
Fenton.  He  had  meant  to  use  a  stronger  word, 
but  changed  it.  "Can't  we  get  lunch  by  twelve?" 

"0  no!  we  shall  have  some  reading  first,  I  guess," 
said  Maggie.  "Lunch  at  twelve?  Why  you  never 
have  it  till  one,  Fenton." 

"Makes  a  difference  whether  you  are  pulling 
a  dozen  people  and  forty  baskets  along,"  rejoined 
her  brother.  "It's  an  awful  bore,  to  have  to  do 
things." 

There  was  a  general  merry  burst  at  that. 

"What  sort  of  things,  Fenton?  Do  you  want 
to  live  like  a  South  Sea  Island  savage  ?  "  his  uncle 
asked. 

"  Uncommonly  jolly,  I  should  think,"  responded 
Fenton.  "Dive  into  the  surf  and  get  a  lobster, 
climb  into  a  tree  and  fetch  down  a  cocoanut — 
there's  your  dinner." 

"  A  very  queer  dinner,"  remarked  Maggie,  amid 
renewed  merriment. 

"  I  never  heard  that  lobsters  were  fished  out  of 
breakers,  either,"  said  Flora. 

"  You  seem  to  think  it  is  no  work  to  fight  the 
breakers  and  climb  the  cocoanut  trees,"  remarked 
Mr.  Murray.  "However,  I  grant  you,  it  would 
not  occupy  a  great  deal  of  time.  Is  your  idea  of 
life,  that  it  is  useful  only  for  eating  purposes  ?  " 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  297 

"It  comes  to  that,  pretty  much,"  said  the  boy. 
"  What  do  people  work  for,  if  it  isn't  to  live  ?  I 
don't  care  how  they  work." 

"Some  people's  aim  is  to  get  where  they  will 
do  nothing,"  said  Mr.  Murray.  "  Do  you  see  a  bit 
of  a  break  yonder  in  the  lines  of  the  shore,  Miss 
Flora?" 

"Is  it? — yes,  it  is  the  creek!"  cried  Maggie 
joyously.  "  It  is  the  creek.  Now  you  can  see  it, 
Flora." 

It  opened  fast  upon  them  now  as  they  came  near, 
quite  a  wide-mouthed  little  creek,  setting  in  among 
wooded  banks  which  soon  narrowed  upon  it.  Just 
before  they  narrowed,  an  old  mill  stood  by  the  side 
of  the  water,  and  there  were  some  steps  by  which 
one  could  land.  There  the  boat  was  made  fast, 
and  the  little  party  disembarked,  glad  after  all  to 
feel  their  feet  again ;  and  baskets  one  after  another 
were  handed  out. 

"What  is  all  this  cargo?"  said  Fenton  grum 
bling  ;  "  and  who's  going  to  carry  it  to  the  top  of 
the  hill  ?  Suppose  we  stay  down  here  ?  " 

"  And  lose  all  the  view  ?  "  said  Maggie. 

"And  the  walk?  and  the  fun?"  said  Esther. 

"Fun!"  echoed  Fenton.  "Just  take  that  sack 
along  with  you,  if  you  want  fun.  What  ever  have 
you  got  in  it  ?  cannon  balls  ?  " 

"Oysters." 

"Oysters!  In  the  shell!  Why  didn't  you  have 
them  taken  out?  What's  in  this  basket?  this  is  as 
bad." 


298  PINE   NEEDLES 

"Cups  and  saucers,  and  spoons  and  plates,  and 
such  things." 

"We  could  have  done  without  them." 

"How?" 

"  Eat  with  our  fingers." 

"  You  had  better  go  to  the  South  Sea  Islands,  and 
done  with  it,"  said  Esther.  "  Come — you  take  hold 
of  one  side  of  the  basket  and  I  of  the  other." 

"No,  Essie,"  said  her  uncle;  "that  would  be  very 
unchivalrous.  Do  not  ask  Fenton  such  a  thing.  In 
the  South  Sea  Islands  men  may  make  women  do 
the  work  for  them ;  but  not  here.  Come,  my  boy, 
here  are  three  of  us  and  only  a  basket  apiece ;  take 
up  your  burden  and  be  thankful,  and  be  brave." 

I  am  afraid  Fenton  was  neither;  but  he  shoul 
dered  his  basket;  and  being  an  athletic  fellow, 
managed  to  reach  the  top  of  the  hill  without  more 
muscular  distress  than  the  others  showed.  Of  the 
state  of  his  mind  I  say  nothing  further;  but  the 
truth  is,  the  way  was  rather  long.  Nobody  knew 
the  shortest  cut  to  the  place  they  desired  to  reach ; 
so  they  wound  about  among  thickets  of  low  cedar, 
sprinkled  here  and  there  with  taller  pines,  going 
up  and  down  and  round  about  for  some  time.  At 
last  they  found  their  way  to  the  top  of  the  ridge, 
and  wandering  along  in  search  of  a  suitable  place 
for  their  rest  and  pleasure,  came  out  upon  an  open 
bit  of  turf  and  moss  on  the  highest  ground,  over 
which  a  group  of  white  pines  stretched  their  shel 
tering  branches.  The  view  was  clear  over  a  very 
long  stretch  of  the  river  with  its  eastern  shore; 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  299 

indeed  they  could  look  up  quite  to  the  turn  of  the 
river  at  Gee's  Point;  Gee's  Point  itself  hid  Moss- 
wood  from  them. 

With  acclamations  the  party  deposited  their  bas 
kets  and  threw  themselves  down  on  the  bank.  The 
gentle  warmth  of  the  sun  was  not  shorn  of  its  effect 
by  the  least  stir  of  wind ;  the  moss  and  grass  were 
perfectly  dry ;  and  the  lookout  over  river  and  shores 
was  lovely.  Sugarloaf  shewed  now  true  to  its 
name,  an  elegant  little  cone.  The  sails  of  the  two 
or  three  vessels  the  party  had  passed  in  coming 
down  the  river  were  so  still  that  they  served  to 
emphasize  the  general  stillness;  they  hung  lazily 
waiting  for  a  breeze  and  could  not  carry  their  hulls 
fast  or  far. 

For  a  while  the  pleasure  party  could  do  noth 
ing  but  rest  and  look.  But  after  a  while  Meredith 
roused  himself  to  further  action.  He  began  wan 
dering  about;  what  he  was  searching  for  did  not 
appear,  until  he  came  back  with  an  armful  of 
green,  soft,  pine  branches. 

"Now  if  you  will  just  get  up  for  a  few  minutes," 
said  he,  "I  will  give  you  a  couch  to  rest  upon." 
And  he  went  on  to  lay  the  branches  thick  together, 
BO  as  to  form  a  very  yielding  comfortable  layer  of 
cushions,  on  which  the  party  stretched  themselves 
with  new  pleasure  and  strong  appreciation.  Mere 
dith  had  to  bring  a  good  many  armfuls  of  pine 
branches  to  accommodate  them  all;  at  last  he  had 
done,  and  flung  himself  down  like  the  rest. 

u  When  do  you  want  your  fire  made?"  said  he. 


300  PINE    NEEDLES 

"Somebody  else  is  hungry,  I  am  afraid,"  said 
Flora. 

"I  cannot  deny  it.  But  I  can  wait  as  long  as 
you  can ! " 

"  I  am  very  hungry,"  said  Flora. 

"  I  believe  I  shall  be,"  said  Mr.  Murray,  by  the 
time  our  luncheon  can  be  ready.  Here's  for  a 
fire!" 

They  all  went  about  it.  To  find  a  place  and  to 
arrange  stones  for  the  kettle,  and  to  collect  fuel  and 
to  build  and  kindle  the  fire.  Stones  for  the  chim 
ney-place  were  not  at  hand  in  manageable  size; 
so  Mr.  Murray  planted  three  strong  sticks  on  the 
ground  with  their  bases  a  couple  of  feet  or  so  apart 
and  their  heads  tied  together ;  and  slung  the  kettle 
to  them,  over  the  fire.  This  was  very  pretty,  and 
drew  forth  great  expressions  of  admiration.  Then, 
while  waiting  for  the  kettle  to  boil,  they  all  threw 
themselves  on  their  pine  branches  again  and  called 
for  a  stoiy ;  only  Fenton  sat  by  the  fire  to  keep  it 
up.  Meredith  took  his  book  from  his  pocket  and 
laid  it  on  the  pine  branches,  open  before  him. 

"You  could  not  attend  to  anything  very  deep 
till  you  have  had  something  to  eat,"  he  said.  "I 
will  give  you  something  easy." 

"Most  of  your  stories  are  so  profound,"  added 
Flora. 

"Nevermind;  listen." 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  301 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

"  *  The  story  that  I  am  going  to  tell  now,  hap 
pened  here  in  Hermannsburg.' " 

"A  great  many  things  seem  to  have  happened 
in  Hermannsburg,"  Flora  remarked. 

"  Yes.  Just  think  what  it  must  be  to  live  in  a 
village  with  a  history. — 

"  *  It  is,  for  one  thing,  a  beautiful  story  for  Pas 
sion  week;  and  then  it  gives  a  lovely  picture  of 
the  relation  in  which  princes  and  their  vassals  at 
that  time  stood  to  one  another.  The  thirty  years' 
war  had  brought  frightful  misery  over  our  country. 
Havoc  and  devastation  had  come  even  into  the 
churches.  So,  for  example,  in  this  place;  the  im 
perial  troops  had  not  only  plundered  the  church 
and  carried  away  everything  that  was  of  value; 
for  to  be  sure  the  people  here  were  Lutheran  here 
tics;  but  they  had  even  broken  to  pieces  all  the 
bells  in  the  tower,  and  driven  off  no  less  than  five 
baggage  waggons  full  of  brass  metal,  to  be  recast 
for  cannon.  And  the  last  one,  the  big  bell,  was 
broken  up  and  about  to  be  carried  away  by  the 
Croats ;  the  horses  were  even  put  to  the  waggon ; 


302  PINE   NEEDLES 

when  suddenly  the  blast  of  trumpets  and  the  bat 
tle-cry,  "  God  with  us  !  "  announced  the  coming  of 
Lutheran  troops,  and  scared  the  Croats  away.  So 
the  metal  was  left  behind.  After  the  thirty  years' 
war,  gradually  the  people  gathered  together  again ; 
but  the  number  of  them  was  very  small,  and  many 
a  farm  had  to  lie  waste,  for  want  of  both  farmer 
and  farming  stock.  There  are  said  to  have  been 
at  first  only  ten  families  come  back  to  our  parish 
village,  with  four  oxen  and  two  cows.  Besides  all 
that,  towards  the  end  of  the  war  epidemics  were 
constantly  prevailing,  so  that  for  example,  in  this 
parish,  in  the  thirty  years  from  1650  to  1680,  three 
pastors  died  one  after  another  of  contagious  epidem 
ics  ;  namely,  Andreas  Kruse ' "  (that  was  the  fellow 
who  stood  out  so  for  his  church  vessels),  "  '  Paulus 
Boccatius,  Johannes  Buchholz ;  and  the  fourth  Jus 
tus  Theodor  Breyhan,  who  died  in  1686,  was  three 
times  at  death's  door.  Those  were  troubled  times ! 
"  *  This  Breyhan  was  a  childlike  good  man,  whom 
his  parish  held  in  great  love  and  honour,  for  both 
in  spiritual  and  in  material  things  there  was  no 
better  counsellor  for  them.  Like  a  true  father  he 
stood  by  the  bedside  of  the  sick  and  the  dying, 
to  shew  them  how  to  die  happy,  and  like  a  good 
father  he  comforted  the  survivors,  and  by  the  live 
and  powerful  words  of  his  preaching,  poured  new 
strength  and  fresh  courage  of  faith  into  all  hearts. 
With  all  that,  this  man  was  a  singular  lover  of  the 
sound  of  the  bell.  In  his  opinion  it  was  a  remark 
able  thing,  that  the  heavenly  King  would  allow  his 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  303 

bells  to  be  cast  of  the  same  metal  in  which  earthly- 
princes  cast  their  guns;  and  his  highest  wish  was, 
to  get  a  great  church  bell  again.  The  metal  indeed 
was  still  on  hand;  but  who  would  have  it  cast? 
There  was  only  a  little  bell  still  hanging  up  in  the 
tower,  which  was  called  the  Bingel  bell,  and  dated 
back  to  the  year  1495;  (it  is  there  still)  and  had 
been  too  insignificant  to  tempt  the  Croats.  With 
that  on  Sundays  people  must  be  rung  to  church, 
and  with  that  the  tolling  for  the  dead  must  be  done 
at  funerals.  It  did,  it  is  true,  give  out  a  fine,  lovely, 
clear  note ;  but  the  good  dear  Breyhan  often  wept 
great  tears  when  he  heard  the  sound  of  it;  it  seem 
ed  to  him  that  it  was  too  disrespectful  to  the  great 
King  in  heaven,  that  he  should  have  no  better  bell 
than  that.  He  could  hardly  sleep  at  last  for  think 
ing  of  it.  Especially  at  the  high  festival  days  and 
in  Passion  week,  and  on  occasion  of  funerals,  he 
was  in  great  uneasiness.  Then,  it  was  in  the  fast 
season  of  the  year  1680,  he  was  again  sick  unto 
death,  and  in  his  fevered  fancies  he  was  continually 
praying  to  the  dear  Lord  that  he  would  not  let  him 
die  before  he  could  have  the  bell  properly  tolled  at 
his  burying.  He  recovered,  and  on  Good  Friday 
was  again  able  to  preach.  The  congregation  wept 
for  joy  at  having  their  beloved  pastor  among  them 
again,  and  never  perhaps  have  more  ardent  thanks 
gone  up  to  God  from  the  parish  than  did  that  day. 
The  time  of  the  Easter  festival  passed  by,  and  they 
rejoiced  with  one  another  over  the  glorious  resur 
rection  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  The  third  day  of  the 


304  PINE   NEEDLES 

Easter  festival  (at  that  time  there  were  still  always 
three  feast  days)  he  told  the  congregation  that  they 
must  pray  for  him  faithfully ;  for  the  next  day  he 
was  going  on  a  journey  after  a  bell,  which  in  his 
illness  he  had  promised  to  the  Lord. 

'"The  next  morning  his  honest  old  parish  farmer 
Ebel  was  at  the  door  with  a  little  farm  waggon,  and 
asked  him  where  they  were  to  go  ?  and  whether  it 
was  to  be  a  long  or  a  short  journey  ?  You  must 
know  the  man  was  under  obligation  to  take  sev 
eral  long  journeys  for  his  pastor,  lasting  some  days, 
and  several  short  expeditions  of  a  day  only  each. 
"It  shall  be  a  short  one  for  to-day,"  the  pastor  an 
swered.  "I  think  with  God's  help  to  ride  to  Zelle." 
So  after  Ebel  had  attended  morning  worship  in  the 
parsonage,  for  he  would  not  willingly  have  missed 
that,  Breyhan  mounted  into  the  waggon,  set  himself 
down  upon  a  spread  of  straw,  took  his  hat  oif  and 
said  reverently — "In  God's  name !" — and  then  they 
went  forward,  step  by  step,  as  the  manner  was  then ; 
for  in  those  days  people  were  not  in  such  a  hurry 
as  they  are  now.  Before  the  city  they  stopped, 
and  with  prayer  and  thanksgiving  eat  the  break 
fast  they  had  brought  along  with  them.  Then 
Breyhan  took  his  vestments  out  of  a  clean  linen 
cloth  and  put  them  on,  and  one  could  see  by  his 
lips  that  he  was  speaking  to  himself  or  praying. 
Good  Ebel  felt  himself  growing  quite  devotional  at 
the  sight,  and  he  drove  into  the  city  with  twice  the 
spirit  he  had  had  before,  because  now  everybody 
might  see  that  he  had  a  pastor  in  his  waggon.'" 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  305 

Meredith  paused  a  moment  to  glance  up  at  the 
river  and  hills  opposite,  and  Maggie  broke  forth, 

"The  people  in  that  country  seem  to  be  very  un 
like  the  people  in  this  country ! " 

"You  mean,  nobody  here  would  care  so  much 
about  carrying  a  minister  in  his  waggon,"  said 
Meredith  laughing. 

"Well — he  wouldn't,  would  he?" 

"  I  am  afraid  not.     More's  the  pity." 

"Why,  Ditto?"  said  his  sister.  "What  are  min 
isters  so  much  more  than  other  people?" 

"They  are  the  King's  ambassadors,"  said  Mr. 
Murray,  taking  the  answer  upon  himself.  "And 
you  know,  Miss  Flora,  the  ambassador  of  a  king 
is  always  treated  as  something  more  than  other 
people." 

Flora  looked  at  him.  "Mr.  Murray,"  she  said, 
"ministers  do  not  seem  like  that?" 

"When  they  are  the  true  thing,  they  do." 

"But  then  besides,"  Maggie  went  on,  —  "how 
could  anybody,  how  could  that  good  man  care  so 
much  about  a  bell?  What  difference  did  it  make 
whether  the  bell  was  big  or  little?" 

"  Superstition  " — said  Flora. 

"No,  not  exactly,"  responded  Mr.  Murray. 

"That  other  man  cared  so  much  about  his  silver 
service,  and  this  one  about  his  bell — they  were  both 
alike,  but  I  don't  understand  it,"  said  Maggie. 

"  How  would  you  like  your  father  to  have  his  ta 
ble  set  with  pewter  instead  of  silver  ?  " 

"  0  Uncle  Eden !  but  that—" 
20 


306  PINE   NEEDLES 

"  Or  to  drive  a  lame  horse  in  his  carriage  ?  " 

44  But  Uncle  Eden—" 

" Or  to  wear  a  fustian  coat?  " 

"But  that's  different,  Uncle  Eden?" 

"Yes,  it  is  different.  This  concerns  our  own 
things;  those  matters  of  the  vessels  and  the  bell 
concerned  God's  things." 

"Then  you  approve  of  building  very  costly 
churches,  sir?"  asked  Meredith,  whose  head  was 
running  on  churches  lately. 

"No,  I  do  not," 

"  How  then,  Mr.  Murray  ?  "  said  Flora  curiously. 

"  Because  the  temple  of  the  Lord,  the  only  one 
he  cares  much  about,  is  not  built  yet.  I  hold  it 
false  stewardship  to  turn  aside  the  Lord's  money 
into  brick  and  mortar  and  marble  channels,  while 
his  poor  have  no  comfortable  shelter,  his  waifs  want 
bread,  and  a  community  anywhere  in  the  world  are 
going  without  the  light  of  life  and  the  word  of 
salvation." 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  the  temple  of  the  Lord, 
Uncle  Eden  ?  "  said  Maggie.  "  I  thought  there  was 
no  temple  of  the  Lord  now  ?  " 

Mr.  Murray  pulled  out  his  Bible  from  his  pocket, 
opened  and  found  a  place. 

"  *  Now  therefore  ye  are  no  more  strangers  and 
foreigners,  but  fellow-citizens  with  the  saints,  and  of 
the  household  of  God ;  and  are  built  upon  the  foun 
dation  of  the  apostles  and  prophets,  Jesus  Christ 
himself  being  the  chief  corner-stone ;  in  whom  all 
the  building,  fitly  framed  together,  groweth  unto 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  307 

an  holy  temple  in  the  Lord ;  in  whom  ye  also  are 
builded  together,  for  an  habitation  of  God  through 
the  Spirit.' " 

"  How  lovely !  —  "  said  Meredith. 

"  I  didn't  know  that  was  in  the  Bible,"  said 
Flora. 

"The  literal  Jewish  temple  was  in  part  a  type 
of  this  spiritual  one.  And  as  in  Solomon's  build 
ing,  *  the  house  was  built  of  stone  made  ready  be 
fore  it  was  brought  thither ;  so  that  there  was  nei 
ther  hammer,  nor  axe,  nor  any  tool  of  iron  heard 
in  the  house  while  it  was  in  building,'  but  the  walls 
rose  silently, — so  it  is  in  this  temple.  The  stones 
are  silently  preparing,  'polished  after  the  simili 
tude  of  a  palace;'  silently  put  in  place;  'lively 
stones  built  up  a  spiritual  house;'  so  the  Lord 
says,  '  He  that  overcometh,  will  I  make  a  pillar 
in  the  temple  of  my  God.'" 

There  was  silence  for  a  few  moments,  when  Mr. 
Murray  added,  "That  is  the  temple,  Meredith,  that 
I  think  the  Lord  wants  us  to  build  and  help  build. 
I  think  any  diversion  of  the  money  or  strength 
needed  for  this,  a  sad,  sad  waste ;  and  no  honour  to 
the  Lord  of  the  temple,  though  it  may  be  meant  so. 
Come,  go  on  with  Pastor  Breyhan ;  I  like  him.  His 
was  a  true-souled  care  for  God's  honour.  I  hope  he 
got  his  bell." 

Meredith  went  on. 

"'To  Ebel's  question,  "where  he  should  drive 
to?"  the  answer  was,  "to  the  Stechbahn;"  fliat 
was  a  road  which  lay  opposite  the  ducal  castle. 


308  PINE   NEEDLES 

Ebel's  wonderment  grew  greater  and  greater,  but 
Breyhan  kept  still,  slowly  dismounted,  gave  orders 
to  Ebel  that  he  should  drive  to  the  inn,  but  he  him 
self  went  straight  on  to  the  ducal  castle.  As  he 
had  expected,  for  it  was  just  eleven  o'clock,  he 
found  the  duke  sitting  in  front  of  the  entrance  to 
the  castle.  For  about  this  hour  the  duke  was  wont 
to  sit  there  and  allow  everybody,  even  the  lowest 
of  his  vassals,  to  have  free  access  and  speech  of 
him.  If  there  were  no  petitions,  or  complaints,  or 
the  like  on  hand,  he  would  converse  in  the  kindest 
and  most  affable  way  with  everybody,  and  many  a 
peasant  could  boast  that  in  all  simple-heartedness 
he  had  shaken  hands  with  his  liege  lord.  Breyhan 
found  the  duke  (it  was  George  William)  surrounded 
by  a  number  of  people.  However  there  can  have 
been  nothing  of  consequence  going  on,  for  when 
the  duke  saw  the  pastor  approaching,  he  signed 
him  immediately  to  come  near.  Breyhan  present 
ed  himself ;  and  related  simply  and  in,  childlike 
wise  how  things  stood  in  Hermannsburg,  and  how 
the  people  had  not  yet  been  able  to  get  their  affairs 
rightly  under  way  since  the  terrible  war.  George 
William  listened  kindly,  and  many  a  tear  came 
into  his  mild  eyes  as  Breyhan  told  him  of  the  sick 
beds  and  the  dying  beds. 

"  *  "You  want  to  ask  some  help  in  your  need?" 
demanded  the  duke. 

" '  "No,"  was  the  answer;  "we  can  manage  as  yet 
to  get  along  with  these  earthly  troubles.  But  we 
have  a  spiritual  trouble,  that  we  feel  more  keenly, 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  309 

and  which  we  cannot  deal  with  by  ourselves,  and 
in  that  you  must  help  us,  my  lord  duke;  this  is 
what  I  have  come  for  to-day."  He  told  him  now 
all  that  he  had  on  his  heart  respecting  the  bell; 
how  that  the  beautiful  metal  was  there  yet,  but  no 
means  to  get  it  cast,  and  that  that  was  for  the 
duke  to  do.  The  duke  was  delighted  with  the 
childlike,  honest  nature  of  the  man  and  his  hearty 
confidence  that  the  duke's  help  was  certain ;  and  lie 
could  not  help  putting  Breyhan's  faith  a  little  to 
the  test. 

'""Dear  pastor,"  said  he,  "you  are  suffering  in  a 
small  way  from  the  after  effects  of  the  thirty  years' 
war;  on  the  other  hand  I  am  suffering  the  same 
thing  on  a  great  scale.  Your  village  treasury  is 
empty,  my  castle  treasury  is  empty,  and  the  coun 
try's  treasury  to  boot.  So  I  cannot  shake  down  the 
money  for  you  out  of  my  sleeves.  If  all  the  people 
in  the  land  came  to  me  to  get  their  bells  cast  for 
them,  what  would  be  the  end  of  it  ?  " 

"  'Breyhan  was  of  opinion  that  the  case  was  some 
what  different  with  Hermannsburg.  Since  one  of 
the  duke's  ancestors  had  founded  the  church  there, 
one  of  the  descendants  might  well  have  a  bell  cast 
for  it.  The  duke  however  would  not  yet  give  in, 
but  teased  the  petitioner  with  all  sorts  of  objections, 
just  to  see  what  he  would  answer;  he  loved  clever 
and  witty  speeches.  Breyhan  did  what  he  could  to 
satisfy  the  duke's  objections.  At  last  it  got  to  be 
too  much  of  a  good  thing,  and  he  said;  "My  lord 
duke,  I  have  now  been  a  good  while  asking  a  boon 


310  PINE   NEEDLES 

of  you,  as  a  humble  vassal  may  ask  his  prince ;  but 
as  asking  does  no  good,  I  will  now  order  you  to 
have  the  bell  cast.  Perhaps  you  are  not  aware 
that  I  am  lord  of  the  manor  to  you,  and  that 
you  are  my  liegeman.  A  liegeman  'must  stand 
by  his  feudal  lord  with  his  goods  and  with  his 
blood,  with  life  and  honour.  The  bell  we  must 
have ;  it  is  needful  for  our  holding  of  divine  service. 
You  are  not  obliged  to  give  us  the  whole  bell ;  you 
are  only  to  have  it  cast.  Now  it  does  not  indeed 
stand  in  your  title-deed  that  you  must  have  a  bell 
cast  for  us ;  therefore  I  cannot  put  you  out  of  your 
farm  for  not  doing  it.  But  it  does  stand  therein 
written  that  you  must  make  hay  for  me  three  days 
in  every  year,  and  do  a  day's  work  for  me  in  every 
week,  for  which  service  each  time  you  are  to  get  a 
half  gallon  of  beer.  Hitherto  your  bailiff  has  put 
a  man  to  do  it,  and  I  have  consented;  but  if  you 
do  not  have  the  bell  cast,  then  you  must  come 
yourself  and  make  hay  and  cut  wood." 

'"You  should  have  seen  the  duke  then.  "My 
dear  pastor,"  said  he,  "that  is  something  I  did  not 
know  before,  that  you  are  my  lord  of  the  manor; 
in  that  case,  I  must  take  shame  to  myself  that 
I  have  let  you  stand  here  all  this  while.  Come 
into  the  castle  with  me."  He  seized  his  hand  and 
led  him  into  the  house,  sent  for  his  Avife,  and  said 
in  a  solemn  voice,  "  See  here,  my  dear  wife,  until 
now  I  have  supposed  that  I  Avas  the  first  man  ill 
the  country;  and  how  to-day  I  have  come  to  know 
that  the  Hermannsburg  pastor  stands  highest,  for 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  311 

he  is  lord  of  the  manor  to  me.  Let  preparation  be 
made  for  his  dining  with  us."  While  the  servants 
made  ready,  the  duke  sought  better  information, 
and  learned  now  that  he  actually  held  a  farm  in 
Hermannsburg  from  the  Hermannsburg  benefice, 
the  contract  for  which  on  every  occasion  of  the 
coming  of  a  new  pastor,  or  of  a  new  duke's  assum 
ing  the  government,  must  be  ratified  over  a  cup  of 
wine,  and  upon  which,  besides  the  yearly  service 
money,  the  above  obligations  rested.  The  duke 
was  so  delighted  at  this,  that  he  not  only  promised 
Breyhan  to  yield  obedience  and  have  the  bell  cast, 
but  he  begged  him  in  the  humblest  manner  that 
he  would  spare  him  in  the  matter  of  the  hay-mak 
ing  and  wood-cutting,  for  he  was  not  exactly  in 
practice  in  the  matter  of  those  two  exercises;  then 
jestingly  he  begged  his  wife  to  apply  to  the  pastor 
herself  for  him,  to  let  grace  take  the  place  of  right. 
And  as  he  was  not  slow  to  do  this,  all  was  soon  set 
tled.  At  table  Breyhan  was  requested  to  make  the 
prayer,  and  the  conversation  went  on  most  charm 
ingly  about  things  of  God's  word. 

The  faithful  carter  Ebel  meanwhile  did  not  know 
at  all  where  his  pastor  could  be  staying  so  long; 
and  as  he  certainly  understood  so  much  as  that  the 
duke  had  taken  him  into  the  castle,  he  got  into 
such  trouble,  because  he  thought  something  evil 
had  befallen  him,  that  he  ran  into  the  castle  and 
demanded  to  have  his  pastor  back;  not  a  little 
wondering  when  he  found  him  sitting  at  table 
with  the  duke.  Still  more  was  he  comforted,  when 


312  PINE  NEEDLES 

from  the  duke's  table  itself  a  draught  of  beer  was 
given  him. 

" '  After  the  meal  was  over,  Breyhan  drove  joy 
fully  back  to  Hermannsburg.  The  duke  had  not 
only  granted  his  petition,  but  also  declared  that 
he  Would  come  to  the  consecration  of  the  bell, 
and  would  be  a  guest  with  his  lord  of  the  manor. 
Breyhan  promised  him  a  friendly  reception,  but 
made  the  stipulation  that  he  should  bring  only  his 
lady  duchess  along  with  him,  for  his  house  was 
not  prepared  for  entertaining  guests.  And  now 
the  business  went  forward  according  to  his  wish. 
The  bell  was  cast  in  Hannover,  and  was,  as  Brey 
han  had  desired  that  it  might  be,  ready  by  the 
fast  time  of  1689*  It  was  adorned  with  a  three 
fold  inscription.  At  the  top  stood: 

"'"PRAISE  HIM  UPON  THE  LOUD  CYMBALS;  PRAISE  HIM 

UPON  THE  HIGH-SOUNDING  CYMBALS.  LET  EVERYTHING 
THAT  HATH  BREATH  PRAISE  THE  LORD." Ps.  cl. 

" '  In  the  middle  of  the  side  stood : 

" ' "  George  William,  by  the  grace  of  God  duke  of 
Brunswick  and  Luneberg,  patron  of  our  churches." 

" '  And  below  (this  is  a  verse — I  will  translate  it 
as  well  as  I  can) : 

it  i  u  Through  the  grace  of  God  I  am  alive  again, 
and  give  you  the  call  to  church  by  my  voice.  Come 
willingly,  be  brisk  and  ready,  then  witt  I  also  speak 
out  gloriously  when  you  are  going  to  the  grave" 

" '  "  Anno  1681,  Nicholas  Greue  in  Hannover  cast 
me." 

"  *  Our  ringing  is  still  done  with  this  bell,  which 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  313 

has  a  very  fine  tone,  and  whoever  likes  can  still 
at  the  present  day  read  on  it  the  above  inscrip 
tion. 

" '  The  Friday  before  Palm  Sunday  was  fixed  for 
the  consecration  of  the  bell ;  the  duke  arrived  the 
day  before  with  his  wife ;  spent  the  night  with  his 
lord  of  the  manor,  attended  the  evening  and  morn 
ing  worship  and  the  preaching  on  Friday  the  fast 
day,  and  was  present  at  the  consecration  of  the  bell, 
which  took  place  immediately  after  divine  service. 
When  the  bell  was  drawn  up  into  the  tower,  and 
hung  upon  its  scaffolding,  ready  for  its  first  ring 
ing,  and  when  the  first  stroke  softly  sounded,  then 
Breyhan  and  the  duke  and  duchess  beside  him,  the 
nobleman  of  Hermannsburg,  who  was  called  VON 
HASKLHORST,  and  the  bailiff,  whose  name  was  PINGE- 
LING,  together  with  the  whole  congregation  fell  up 
on  their  knees  in  the  churchyard;  and  while  the 
bell  continued  to  be  softly  rung,  the  prayer  of  con 
secration  was  spoken.  After  the  Pater  noster,  the 
full,  sonorous  notes  of  the  bell  pealed  out,  and  there 
was  not  an  eye  but  had  tears  in  it  as  the  long- 
missed  tones  floated  off  so  gloriously  through  the 
air.  The  dear  Breyhan's  heart  was  bounding,  and 
full  of  joy  he  spoke  out — "  *  Lord,  now  lettest  thou 
thy  servant  depart  in  peace.' "  The  afternoon  they 
spent  at  home,  only  the  duke  could  not  refrain  from 
making  a  trial  at  the  wood-cutting,  which  however 
did  not  succeed  very  well;  whereupon  then  the 
pastor  magnanimously  promised  that  he  would 
content  himself  with  the  observance  hitherto  ren- 


314  PINE   NEEDLES 

dered,  and  never  demand  of  the  duke  personally 
that  he  should  make  hay  or  do  days'  works.  Then 
the  duke  requested  that  for  his  sake  the  evening 
worship  might  be  held  earlier  to-day,  for  he  wished 
to  get  back  again  to  Zelle. 

" '  From  that  time  he  came  again  once  every 
year,  either  for  Good  Friday  or  for  Easter;  and 
in  the  year  1686  he  followed  to  the  grave  the  re 
mains  of  Pastor  Breyhan,  who  died  in  the  thirty- 
fourth  year  of  his  age.  The  evening  of  Wednes 
day  before  the  sixth  Sunday  after  Trinity  (the 
date  is  not  given  in  the  church  book),  when  he 
felt  his  end  drawing  near,  he  had  the  great  bell 
rung  once  more  ;  and  while  it  was  ringing,  at 
which  time  the  greater  portion  of  the  parish 
either  in  their  homes  or  standing  in  front  of  the 
house,  were  in  prayer,  with  a  glad  gesture  he  fell 
asleep.  His  dying  lips  prayed,  "  Christ,  thou  Lamb 
of  God,  who  takest  away  the  sin  of  the  world, 
have  mercy  on  me,  and  give  me  thy  peace,  0  Je 
sus.  Amen." 

'"The  funeral  was  on  Saturday.  And  as  often  as 
I  hear  the  bell  ring,  I  cannot  help  thinking  of  the 
dear,  good  Breyhan  and  the  kindly  duke  George 
William,  and  the  saying  recurs  to  me — "The  mem 
ory  of  the  just  is  blessed." 

'"Finally,  I  remark  once  more,  that  from  this 
story  I  have  taken  up  a  thorough  disgust  for  the 
new-fashioned  law  of  redemptions.  By  this  law  the 
above-mentioned  farm  has  lately  been  detached 
from  the  benefice.  Before  that,  I  was  the  most 


AND    OLD    YARNS.  315 

distinguished  man  in  the  kingdom  of  Hannover, 
for  the  king  was  my  parochial  tenant  and  I  was 
lord  of  the  manor  to  him ;  now  I  am  an  insignifi 
cant  country  pastor,  and  such,  it  is  well  known, 
have  neither  form  nor  beauty.' " 


316  PINE   NEEDLES 


CHAPTER   XX. 

Fenton  had  been  crying  out  that  the  kettle  was 
boiling;  and  yet,  when  Meredith  stopped  reading 
nobody  was  in  a  hurry  to  move.  The  little  group 
lying  there  upon  the  pine  branches  was  as  quiet  as 
the  day ;  and  there  is  no  describing  the  beauty  of 
that  rest  in  which  nature  for  the  moment  seemed 
to  be  still.  The  delicate  clear  blue  overhead;  the 
still  racks  of  white  cloud  here  and  there  upon  it, 
doing  nothing  and  going  nowhere,  only  lying  fair 
on  the  blue ;  the  breathless  atmosphere  in  which  an 
aspen  leaf  would  have  hung  motionless;  the  broad 
river  below  moving  its  strong  current  so  silently 
and  so  unobtrusively;  there  was  no  token  of  mo 
tion,  unless  in  a  vessel  which  was  slowly  drifting 
down  while  her  sails  hung  windless  by  the  mast; 
the  profound  quiet  had  something  imposing.  I  can 
not  tell  how,  some  grave,  sweet  influence  seemed  to 
press  upon  every  heart  in  the  company;  and  for  a 
few  minutes  after  the  reader's  voice  ceased,  the  still 
ness  was  significant. 

"  We  seem  to  be  out  of  the  world ! "  Flora  re 
marked  at  last  in  an  undertone. 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  317 

"Why?"  Mr.  Murray  asked. 

"  I  don't  know.  Confusions  and  disturbance  are 
nowhere  in  sight.  It  is  all  peace." 

"  And  purity — "  added  Meredith. 

"  How  nice  if  one  could  live  so  !  "  Flora  went  on. 

"  You  may,  to  a  great  degree,  live  so,"  said  Mr. 
Murray.  "  It  will  not  be  always  October,  and  your 
couch  may  not  always  be  such  a  feathery  one ;  and 
yet,  Miss  Flora — I  fancy  that  Pastor  Breyhan  lived 
in  very  much  such  an  atmosphere  all  his  life." 

"The  story  is  just  in  harmony  with  the  day  and 
the  place ;  isn't  it  ?  "  said  Meredith. 

"  It  is  odd  that  one  can  be  interested  in  such  a 
story,"  said  Flora.  "And  yet  I  have  been  inter 
ested." 

"  For  that  very  reason,  I  suppose,"  said  Mr.  Mur 
ray.  "  There  is  something  breathing  out,  both  from 
the  story  and  the  day,  which  we  all  know  we  want, 
— unless  we  have  got  it  already." 

"  But,  Mr.  Murray,  one  can  not  live  in  the  world 
and  be  quiet,"  said  Flora. 

"There  is  a  promise  or  two,  however,  to  that 
effect.  '  When  He  giveth  quietness,  then  who  can 
make  trouble  ? '  And  the  Master  said  to  his  disci 
ples,  'Peace  I  leave  with  you.'  4He  that  cometh 
to  me  shall  never  hunger.' " 

"  I  wish  I  knew  what  it  means! "  said  Flora,  fur 
tively  getting  rid  of  a  tear  which  had  somehow 
found  its  way  into  her  eye. 

"I'll  tell  you  what,"  cried  Fenton,  "if  you  don't 
come,  the  water  will  all  boil  away.  Don't  you 


318  PINE   NEEDLES 

mean  ever  to  have  luncheon  ?  I  don't  know  what 
yon  are  thinking  of,  with  your  old  stories! " 

This  brought  the  party  to  their  feet.  And  now 
some  went  at  unpacking  and  arranging  the  things 
which  had  been  brought  along  in  bag  and  basket ; 
Flora  lit  the  spiiit  lamp  and  set  the  coffee  a-going; 
while  Meredith  and  Fenton  put  the  potatoes  in  the 
ashes  and  took  care  of  the  process  of  roasting  the 
oysters.  It  was  not  so  warm  to-day  that  the  fire 
was  disagreeable,  which  was  lucky,  as  the  oys 
ters  demanded  a  good  bed  of  coals;  the  potatoes 
likewise.  Finally,  Meredith  set  about  making  a 
friar's  omelet.  When  all  was  ready  and  the  tea 
drawn,  they  sat  round  the  fire  on  the  grass  and 
made  a  most  miscellaneous,  and  most  enjoyable 
meal. 

"  Coffee !  how  good  the  coffee  is !  "  said  Meredith. 

"And  did  you  ever  see  such  good  roast  oysters?" 
cried  Maggie. 

"They  ought  to  be  good,"  Fenton  growled;  "they 
cost  a  precious  sight  of  work  to  get  'em  up  here." 

"And  Ditto's  omelet  is  so  nice!" — Maggie  went 
on. 

"  If  one  could  live  in  the  open  air !  "  said  Mere 
dith, — "how  good  it  would  be.  I  do  not  mean  the 
omelet!  but  everything  else.  It's  a  great  loss  to 
live  in  houses." 

"Lots  of  convenience,  though,"  said  Fenton. 

"Look  at  the  heap  of  oyster-shells  Fenton  is 
throwing  behind  him!"  cried  Maggie  presently. 

"What's  that  to  you?". said  Fenton.    "There  are 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  319 

oysters  enough.  Don't  meddle.  If  anything  is  a 
nuisance  it  is  a  meddling  girl." 

"How  about  a  meddling  boy?"  Mr.  Murray  asked. 

"  Boys  don't  meddle,"  said  Fenton.     "  It  is  girls." 

"I  suppose  that  is  because  the  boys  do  the  things 
that  have  to  be  meddled  with,"  said  Maggie  sagely. 

Fenton  scowled,  but  the  others  laughed,  and  the 
meal  went  merrily  forward. 

44  How  much  time  have  we  ?  "     Flora  asked. 

"For  what?" 

"  For  staying  here,  and  reading.  How  long  be 
fore  we  must  break  up  and  go  home  ?  " 

"We  can  take  our  own  time,"  said  Meredith. 
"The  tide  will  be  good.  Indeed  it  will  be  only 
getting  better  and  better.  It  will  turn  about  two 
o'clock." 

"We  must  get  home  in  time  for  dinner,"  observed 
Fenton  however. 

"  I  really  should  think  you  might  wait  a  while 
for  that,"  said  Esther.  "  Uncle  Eden,  if  anybody 
else  comes  here  this  fall,  they  will  see  exactly  what 
we  had  for  lunch." 

"  How  so  ?  " 

"There  are  the  egg-shells,  and  potatoe-skins,  and 
Fenton's  heap  of  oyster-shells." 

"You  do  not  think  we  will  leave  them  here? 
Besides,  there  are  several  heaps  of  oyster-shells,  I 
think;  they  are  not  all  Fenton's." 

"  Fenton's  is  the  biggest.  But  what  will  you  do 
with  all  these  things,  Uncle  Eden  ?  " 

"  Carry  them  away." 


320  PINE   NEEDLES 

"  Where  to,  sir  ?  "  asked  Fenton. 

"Down  the  hill." 

"Why,  sir?" 

"  How  would  you  like  such  a  quantity  of  rubbish 
left  in  the  woods  at  Mosswood,  by  some  happy  pic 
nic  party  ?  " 

"  This  isn't  Mosswood,  sir." 

"No;  it  is  some  other  wood." 

"  But  it  is  nobody's  ground." 

"  How  can  you  venture  to  affirm  that  ?  " 

"Well,  I  mean,  it  is  nobody's  ground  in  par 
ticular." 

"  That  is  more  than  you  or  I  know,  my  boy,  and 
is  moreover  highly  improbable.  We  are  certainly 
not  intruding  on  anybody's  privacy ;  but  we  have 
no  right  even  here  to  leave  things  worse  than  we 
found  them  ?  " 

"And  we  have  got  to  lug  all  this  trash  down  to 
the  river  again  ?  " 

"What  do  you  think?" 

Fenton  thought  it  was  "no  end  of  a  bore";  no 
body  else  however  did  anything  but  laugh  at  him. 
After  the  oysters  were  all  disposed  of,  the  oyster- 
shells  went  back  into  the  bag,  ready  for  transpor 
tation;  Fenton  remarking  with  great  disgust  that 
they  were  just  as  heavy  and  took  up  more  room 
than  before.  Egg-shells .  and  pota toe-skins  were 
swept  up;  cups  packed  away;  coffee  and  teapot 
restored  to  the  basket ;  hands  washed ;  and  finally 
the  group  gathered  again  on  their  couch  of  pine 
branches  to  enjoy  every  minute.  They  had  a  good 


AND   OLD    YARNS.  321 

space  of  time  left  them  still,  and  the  day  promised  to 
finish  its  fair  course  without  change,  except  change 
of  beauty.  Fen  ton  joined  the  group  now,  having 
nothing  to  do,  and  hopeless  of  inducing  them  to 
break  up  before  the  last  possible  minute. 

"  What  are  you  going  to  give  us  this  afternoon, 
Meredith  ?  "  Mr.  Murray  asked. 

"I  have  been  keeping  it,  sir;  one  of  my  best;  a 
story  out  of  the  thirty  years'  war.  Shall  I  read  ?  " 

"  By  all  means." 

"  '  In  the  parish  of  Hermannsburg  there  is  a  for 
est-house,  situated  about  an  hour  and  a  half  from 
the  church  village ;  the  place  is  called  QUELOH,  and 
it  lies  in  the  midst  of  the  forest.  On  the  other  side, 
about  a  quarter  of  an  hour  further  on,  is  a  beautiful 
beech  wood,  which  goes  by  the  name  of  BUCHHORST. 
In  old  times  this  place  was  inhabited  by  two  peas 
ants  who  belonged  to  the  wide-spread  peasant  fam 
ily  of  WEESEN.  The  name  of  the  one  was  DREWES, 
and  of  the  other  HINZ.  They  were  both  good  and 
God-fearing  men,  and  with  their  whole  hearts  de 
voted  to  the  dear  Lutheran  church.  Those  were 
the  times  of  the  thirty  years'  war  in  which  they 
lived,  and  they  had  to  bear  their  share  in  all  the 
distresses  which  that  miserable  war  brought  with 
it;  they  bore  it  also  willingly,  for  the  Lord's  sake. 

" '  Although  they  had  been  stripped  of  their 
goods  a  number  of  times  by  the  Catholic  soldiers, 
they  had  nevertheless  preserved  their  most  pre 
cious  things,  that  is,  their  books;  their  Bibles,  sing 
ing  books  and  catechisms.  These  were,  you  must 
21 


322  PINE    NEEDLES 

know,  very  necessary  to  them,  for  in  those  days 
there  were  as  yet  no  village  schools.  In  the  entire 
parish  of  Hermannsburg  there  was  but  a  single 
school,  and  that  was  in  the  church  village;  and 
this  school  was  attended  by  the  children  only  for 
one  year,  or  it  might  be  only  half  a  year,  previous 
to  their  confirmation.  For  all  the  rest,  every  house 
father  must  himself  play  the  school-master.  And 
in  many  respects,  those  must  have  been  glorious 
times.  Every  evening  when  the  fire  was  kindled 
on  the  hearth  of  the  so-called  Flett '  (a  sort  of  hall 
or  common  room  between  the  barn  and  the  house), 
*  and  the  women  were  busy  on  the  hearth  with 
their  cooking,  the  house-father  with  the  whole  of  the 
household  assembled  around  the  fire ;  children,  ser 
vants,  and  maids.  Then  the  little  ones  were  in 
structed  in  spelling  and  reading,  in  which  business 
the  servants  and  maids  were  faithful  helpers  of  the 
house-father.  After  that,  the  catechism  was  taken 
in  hand ;  some  spiritual  songs  were  sung ;  a  portion 
was  read  aloud  from  the  Bible  and  talked  about, 
in  the  course  of  which  very  lovely  and  profitable 
words  were  often  spoken;  the  old  histories  and 
legends  and  stories  of  the  country,  handed  down 
from  father  to  son,  came  in  for  their  share  of  atten 
tion  ;  the  laws,  manners  and  usages  which  custom 
had  made  binding  were  discussed;  and  the  "Flett" 
hour  was  one  so  full  of  enjoyment  and  so  full  of 
instruction  that  it  was  looked  forward  to  during 
the  whole  day  by  both  old  and  young.  And  this 
"  Flett "  hour  was  a  strong  fortress  against  the  in- 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  323 

trusion  of  innovations;  and  it  can  be  shewn,  that 
the  new  ways,  that  is,  the  godless  new  ways,  never 
came  until  the  "  Flett "  hours  were  given  up.  This 
Flett'  (or  great  middle  hall  of  the  house)  'with 
its  hearth  was  as  it  were  the  home  sanctuary,  in  a 
certain  degree  the  domestic  altar.  From  there  too, 
the  peasant  could  overlook  his  whole  house  and 
prevent  any  disorders.  Usually  there  was  only  on.e 
dwelling-room  in  the  house,  called  the  "  Donz," 
which  however  was  for  the  most  part  used  merely 
for  eating  and  spinning,  and  served  for  the  whole, 
for  grandparents  and  father  and  mother  and  chil 
dren  and  men  and  maids;  for  the  meals  were  also 
in  common;  and  that  old  people  should  be  por 
tioned  off  and  take  what  was  called  their  part,  was 
a  thing  unheard  of;  it  would  have  brought  unend 
ing  disgrace  upon  the  peasant's  head.  It  was  just 
as  little  thought  possible  that  the  peasant  should 
take  his  meals  separate  from  his  men  and  maid-ser 
vants;  they  all  formed  one  great  family. 

"  '  I  said  awhile  ago,  that  in  the  ravages  of  the 
war  these  people  had  saved  what  they  held  dear 
est,  namely,  their  books.  They  had  managed  it 
in  this  way.  In  every  "  Donz  "  the  furniture  con 
sisted  only  of  a  large  table,  a  table  with  folding 
leaves ' "  (a  Klapptisch — I  don't  know  whether  that 
is  a  table  that  folds  together,  or  a  table  shelf  that 
folds  up  against  the  wall)  '"a  cupboard,  and  some 
wooden  chairs  and  stools;  but  by  the  side  of  the 
stove  there  stood  a  "  grandfather's  chair  "  of  more 
pretension,  covered  with  leather,  in  which  indeed 


324  PINE   NEEDLES 

the  peasant  himself  when  he  came  home  from  the 
field  in  the  evening,  was  wont  to  rest  himself  for  a 
while.  The  seat,  also  covered  with  leather,  they 
had  made  movable,  so. that  it  could  be  lifted  up 
and  shut  down;  and  beneath  this  seat  the  books 
were  placed  in  security;  nothing  was  to  be  seen 
of  them  when  the  seat  was  shut  down,  and  nobody 
would  look  for  them  there.  And  it  was  quite  need 
ful  that  they  should  preserve  their  books  so  care 
fully  ;  for  the  Catholic  soldiers  in.  the  thirty  years' 
war  waged  a  regular  war  of  extermination  against 
Lutheran  books. 

'"One  evening,  Drewes  the  father,  that  is,  the 
farmer,  was  sitting  in  his  house,  with  his  people 
around  the  hearth  in  the  "Flett,"  and  they  were 
just  speaking  of  the  great  victory  which  the  Luth 
erans  under  General  Torstensohn  had  fought  for 
and  gained  at  Leipzig;  and  the  house-father  was 
giving  his  opinion  that  soon  now  surely  enough 
blood  would  have  flowed,  and  that  peace  must  be 
near.  Upon  that  came  his  neighbour  hastily  in 
and  said, — "  Neighbour,  hurry  and  loose  your  cat 
tle,  and  let  us  flee  to  the  wood;  the  emperor's 
forces  are  only  half  an  hour  off."  Quick  every 
body  sprang  up ;  the  cattle  were  muzzled  to  pre 
vent  their  bellowing;  the  few  bits  of  clothing  and 
some  victuals  were  caught  up ;  and  away  they  went 
plunging  into  the  thickest  part  of  the  forest,  as  fast 
and  as  noiselessly  as  they  could.  Hinz  closed  the 
procession,  and  when  the  cattle  were  got  out  of 
sight  he  took  post  behind  a  tree,  that  he  might  see 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  325 

what  the  soldiers  would  do.  He  had  not  long  to 
watch;  for  it  was  scarcely  a  quarter  of  an  hour 
later  that  bright  flames  went  crackling  up  into  the 
sky;  both  houses  together  with  the  outbuildings 
were  in  a  blaze.  The  soldiers  were  enraged  that 
they  had  found  no  booty,  and  had  set  fire  to  every-, 
thing.  Hinz  hastened  now  into  the  thick  of  the 
wood  after  the  others,  and  when  he  caught  up  with 
them  he  told  them  of  their  misfortune.  With  that, 
they  all  fell  upon  their  knees  and  thanked  God  that 
he  had  saved  their  lives  and  their  cattle;  and  it 
never  came  into  any  one's  head  to  weep  so  much 
as  a  single  tear;  they  could  build  huts  for  them 
selves  in  the  wood;  and  their  hearts  did  not  hang 
upon  things  of  this  world.  But  what  is  this?  what 
could  all  of  a  sudden  force  such  a  deep  sigh  from 
Father  Drewes  that  it  absolutely  startled  them  all? 
what  could  bring  great  tears  into  the  eyes  of  that 
strong  man,  whom  nobody  had  ever  seen  weep  be 
fore?  "Godfather  Hinz,"  he  said  with  his  voice 
half  stifled  with  pain, — "our  books!  our  books! 
Ah,  they  are  burnt  up  by  now!  our  own  and 
our  children's  only  treasure  and  comfort ! "  And 
behold,  they  all  then  fell  to  weeping,  men  and 
women  and  children,  men  and  maids,  as  if  their 
hearts  would  break.  At  last  spoke  out  the  old 
Father  Hinz,  an  eighty-years-old  grey-headed  man, 
— "  Hush,  children !  if  our  books  are  burned,  our 
God  and  Saviour  is  not  gone  with  them;  we  have 
him  in  our  hearts ;  and  his  word  we  have  too,  not 
only  in  the  Bible  but  in  our  memories.  I  will  say 


326  PINE   NEEDLES 

out  a  chapter  for  you  every  morning  and  ©very 
evening,  out  of  my  heart."  Then  they  grew  quiet, 
and  he  folded  his  hands  and  began  at  once,  and 
prayed  first  the  twenty-third  psalm,  and  then  the 
seventy-third  psalm,  and  finally  the  eighth  chapter 
of  the  epistle  to  the  Romans;  all  verse  for  verse  from 
the  beginning  to  the  end.'" 

"  The  twenty-third  and  the  seventy-third  ?  "  said 
Maggie  interrupting.  "  Which  are  they  ?  " 

"Don't  you  know?  The  twenty -third  begins, 
— 'The  Lord  is  my  Shepherd;  I  shall  not  want.'" 

"  And  it  goes  on, — "  said  Mr.  Murray, — "  '  He 
prepareth  a  table  before  me  in  the  presence  of  mine 
enemies;  he  anointeth  my  head  with  oil;  my  cup 
runneth  over.' " 

"  Not  very  appropriate,"  said  Flora. 

"  I  thought,  very  appropriate." 

"Why  they  were  just  in  great  want,  sir;  even 
of  the  most  ordinary  comforts." 

"  A  good  time  to  remind  themselves  of  their  ex 
traordinary  comforts." 

"  What  had  they,  to  justify  them  in  talking  of 
their  4  cup  running  over '  ?  " 

"Something  which  they  know  who  know,  Miss 
Flora,  and  other  people  would  try  in  vain  to  com 
prehend." 

"Well,  the  other  word,  'I  shall  not  want;' — they 
were  in  want  already." 

"No,"  said  Meredith,  "excuse  me.  I  have  read 
what  comes  after." 

"  They  were  in  want,  Ditto,  certainly." 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  327 

"  Only  such  want — Never  mind,  I  will  not  fore 
stall  my  story." 

"  What  is  the  other  psalm  ?  "  Flora  asked. 

"Very  beautiful  in  this  connection,"  said  Mr. 
Murray,  who  had  got  out  his  Bible.  "  It  begins, 
— *  Truly  God  is  good  to  Israel,  even  to  such  as  are 
of  a  clean  heart.'" 

"  There  again !  "  said  Flora,  "  What  reason  had 
they  just  then  to  think  that  he  was  good?" 

"That  is  faith,  Miss  Flora." 

"  Faith  ?  "  the  young  lady  repeated. 

"Yes.    Faith  takes  on  trust,  when  it  cannot  see." 

Flora  looked  at  the  speaker. 

"  The  psalm  goes  on  to  describe  the  temptations 
to  doubt  which  had  beset  the  psalmist  on  observ 
ing  the  prosperity  of  wicked  people  and  the  hard 
times  the  Lord's  people  often  had ;  and  then  how  he 
saw  his  mistake ;  and  then  he  breaks  out,  *  Whom 
have  I  in  heaven  but  thee  ?  and  there  is  none  upon 
earth  that  I  desire  beside  thee.  My  flesh  and  my 
heart  faileth,  but  God  is  the  strength  of  my  heart, 
and  my  portion  forever.' " 

"That  is  beautiful,  and  appropriate,"  said  Flora. 

"As  soon  as  a  man  gets  where  he  can  say — 'Thou 
shalt  guide  me  with  thy  counsel,  and  afterward  re 
ceive  me  to  glory,' — he  can  stand  a  few  ups  and 
downs  in  this  life.  The  choice  of  passages  made 
by  that  old  man  was  beautiful  in  the  extreme ;  arid 
proved  not  only  that  he  knew  the  Bible,  but  that 
it  was  part  of  his  life." 

"And  the  chapter  of  Romans?" 


328  PINE   NEEDLES 

44  A  worthy  third  in  the  trio.  That  is  a  chapter 
of  triumph  in  the  Christian's  privilege  and  hopes, 
ending — 'Who  shall  separate  us  from  the  love  of 
Christ  ?  shall  tribulation,  or  distress,  or  persecution, 
or  famine,  or  nakedness,  or  peril,  or  sword?  .  v  . 
Nay,  in  all  these  things  we  are  more  than  conquer 
ors,  through  him  that  loved  us.  For  I  am  per 
suaded,  that  neither  death  nor  life,  nor  angels,  nor 
principalities,  nor  powers,  nor  things  present,  nor 
things  to  come,  nor  height,  nor  depth,  nor  any 
other  creature,  shall  be  able  to  separate  us  from  the 
love  of  God,  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord.' " 

Flora's  eyes  filled,  and  she  said  nothing;  and 
Meredith  took  up  his  book  again. 

44  There  is  another  word  in  that  chapter  that  fits, 
sir; — 4A11  things  shall  work  together  for  good  to 
them  that  love  God.'" 

4'  It  would  certainly  take  faith  to  believe  that" 
said  Flora.  44 1  can  imagine  a  little  that  other  things 
and  hopes  might  console  people  suffering  trouble 
in  their  persons  and  goods;  but  now,  for  instance, 
what  possible  benefit  could  it  be  to  those  people 
to  have  their  houses  burned,  and  to  be  driven 
into  the  wild  wood  with  no  shelter  and  nothing 
or  very  little  to  eat,  and  likewise  very  little  to 
put  on?" 

44  Well,  T  had  better  read,"  said  Meredith.  4'  Pas 
tor  Harms  stops  there,  after  telling  how  old  Drewes 
recited  Scripture,  and  asks,  4  Could  my  dear  readers 
all  of  them  have  done  as  much  ?  just  ask  yourselves 
once  quietly ;  and  whoever  is  forced  to  say,  44 1  could 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  329 

not  do  it,"  let  him  be  ashamed  from  the  bottom  of 
his  heart ! 

"'A  special  impression  was  made  by  the  words, 
"Though  I  walk  through  the  valley  of  the  shadow 
of  death,"  etc.,  and  those  others,  "  my  heart  and  my 
flesh  faileth,"  etc.,  and  again,  "  I  am  persuaded,  that 
neither  death  nor  life,"  etc.,  and  after  they  had  all 
sat  still  a  while,  they  raised  their  heads  up  cheer 
fully,  took  each  other's  hands,  and  broke  out  with 
one  voice  in  the  words — 

"  '  "  Dennoch  bleibe  ich  stets  an  Dir,"  etc.' " 

"What  does  that  mean,  Ditto?" 

" '  Nevertheless,  I  am  continually  with  thee.' 
'Then  they  went  quietly  to  sleep  in  the  wood, 
and  lodged  there  beautifully,  warm  and  safe  un 
der  the  wings  of  their  God,  and  beneath  the  shel 
tering  arms  of  the  fir-trees;  so  that  the  sun  was 
already  shining  through  the  branches  when  they 
waked  up.  Then  they  milked  the  cows,  to  get 
some  breakfast  for  the  children,  and  after  that  they 
all  gathered  round  the  old  father  to  remind  him  of 
his  promise.  And  the  old  man  did  not  delay,  but 
prayed  first  the  twenty-seventh,  and  then  the  forty- 
second  and  forty-third  psalms,  arid  for  the  last,  the 
twelfth  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  ; 
so  devoutly  and  so  confidingly  and  so  unhesita 
tingly,  that  they  all  could  not  have  supposed  but 
that  he  was  reading  to  them  out  of  the  big  Bible 
that  had  been  under  the  arm-chair;  and  in  most 
of  the  parts  they  prayed  with  him  -word  for  word. 
Then  they  looked  gratefully  to  the  old  man,  and 


330  PINE   NEEDLES 

after  they  had  first  asked  the  blessing,  then  drunk 
the  milk,  and  at  last  said  grace,  the  others  remained 
in  the  wood;  but  the  two  peasants,  Drewes  and 
Hinz  with  their  two  servants  set  out  to  go  back  to 
the  place  where  their  houses  had  stood.  As  they 
went  off,  the  old  father  Hinz  called  after  them,  as 
if  he  were  in  a  dream, — "  Children,  see  about  the 
books  too ! "  Slowly  they  drew  near  the  place  of 
the  conflagration;  carefully  listening  and  looking 
around  them ;  but  nothing  was  to  be  seen  or  heard, 
all  was  as  still  as  death,  only  the  birds  were  hop 
ping  and  singing  in  the  branches.  At  last  they 
came  within  view  of  the  place  where  the  fire  had 
been;  but  just  as  they  were  about  to  run  thither, 
a  low  moaning  came  to  their  ears  from  the  corner 
of  the  wood,  near  the  place  of  the  fire.  They  were 
Christians,  therefore  they  did  not  do  like  the  priest 
and  the  Levite,  but  like  the  kind-hearted  Samari 
tan;  they  went  off  towards  the  quarter  from  which 
the  moans  came;  and  what  did  they  see?  Two 
badly  wounded  soldiers,  sitting  in  the  two  grand 
father's  chairs  at  the  corner  of  the  wood.  How  came 
they  there?  The  troops  on  their  march  through 
had  had  these  wounded  fellows  with  them;  who 
for  their  weakness  proved  unable  to  go  any  fur 
ther  ;  so  their  comrades  determined  to  leave  them 
behind.  But  to  let  the  houses  stand  for  the  sake 
of  affording  them  shelter,  was  more  than  the  in 
flamed  rage  of  the  soldiers,  disappointed  at  finding 
everything  empty,  could  see  their  way  to.  Haw- 
ever,  to  shew  some  sort  of  humanity  to  their  com- 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  331 

rades,  they  had  dragged  the  two  old  chairs  out  of 
the  houses  to  the  corner  of  the  wood,  placed  the 
wounded  men  in  them,  and  then  completed  their 
work  of  destruction ;  following  which  they  had  all 
marched  off.  And  now,  when  the  wounded  sol 
diers  saw  standing  before  them  the  four  men  whose 
houses  their  comrades  had  laid  in  ashes,  they  look 
ed  for  nothing  else  but  death.  But  not  anger  nor 
revenge,  but  peace,  yes,  blessed  joy,  beamed  from 
the  faces  of  those  four  men;  God  had  certainly 
saved  their  beloved  books  for  them.  Now  they  did 
not  care  that  their  houses  were  gone.  The  soldiers 
were  treated,  not  as  foes,  but  as  benefactors.  They 
carried  them  away  into  the  wood  where  the  rest  of 
the  people  were ;  and  when  the  chairs  were  seen, 
and  the  seats  were  lifted  up,  and  the  books  found 
uninjured,  then  there  was  a  thanksgiving  and 
praising  and  glorifying  so  loud  and  so  glad,  that 
the  angels  in  heaven  must  have  joined  in;  the  very 
little  children  ran  to  the  books  and  kissed  them  de 
voutly  and  gleefully.  The  two  soldiers  were  tended 
as  if  they  had  been  blood  kindred ;  milk  was  given 
them  to  drink ;  and  now  also,  since  the  host  of  in 
cendiaries  had  marched  away,  the  way  was  open 
to  fetch  food  again  out  of  the  villages.  It  was  pro 
posed  to  bring  the  wounded  men  to  the  nearest 
hamlet;  but  they  were  too  weak  for  it;  and  they 
begged  that  they  might  be  kept  in  the  huts  in  the 
wood.  And  now  it  came  to  pass  that  nothing  re 
freshed  those  two  soldiers,  more  than  old  Father 
Hinz's  talk  from  the  word  of  God,  and  his  prayers. 


332  PINE   NEEDLES 

Even  at  the  eleventh  hour,  they  turned  to  the  Lord 
Jesus;  and  the  pastor  in  Hermannsburg  gave  them 
the  holy  Communion  after  they  had  confessed  their 
sins,  had  received  the  assurance  of  forgiveness,  and 
had  declared  that  they  believed  in  Jesus  Christ, 
the  only-begotten  Son  of  God,  and  were  persuaded 
that  his  body  and  blood  were  truly  represented  to 
them  in  the  bread  and  the  wine.  This  Communion 
was  a  right  blessed  day  of  joy  for  the  inhabitants 
of  the  wood.  But  God  was  preparing  for  them  yet 
another  special  rejoicing.  For  when  the  last  hour 
of  the  two  soldiers  was  draAving  near,  they  sum 
moned  the  old  father  and  the  two  peasants  to  their 
dying  bed,  thanked  them  anew  with  tears  in  their 
eyes  for  the  salvation  which  they  had  found  for 
their  souls,  and  made  over  to  them  the  legacy  of 
their  military  doublets;  with  the  intimation,  that 
after  they  were  dead,  they  should  rip  out  the  seams 
of  them.  This  was  done,  when  the  men  had  first 
been  honourably  buried ;  and  now  were  discovered, 
sewed  into  the  doublets,  such  a  stock  of  gold  pieces, 
that  not  only  the  burned-down  houses  and  sta 
bles  could  be  built  again,  but  also  the  men  and 
maids  might  receive  a  handsome  reward,  and  a 
new  altar  cloth  could  be  given  to  the  church  at 
Hermannsburg. 

"'The  lord  of  the  manor  of  Hermannsburg  had 
assigned  to  the  two  soldiers  a  place  in  his  portion 
of  the  church-yard,  where,  at  the  northeast  corner 
of  the  church-yard  wall,  their  graves  were  covered 
with  a  stone.  This  stone  lay  there  until,  after  the 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  333 

male  line  of  the  lord  of  the  manor  had  died  out,  the 
so-called  Allodium  was  sold,  and  along  with  it  this 
stone.  It  bore  the  following  inscription : 

"  '  "  ANNO  1642  DOMINI  NOSTRI  JESU  CHRISTI  MORTEM 
OBIERUNT  ET  HOC  LOCO  SEPULTI  SUNT  FRIEDERICUS  WfiN- 
CESLAUS  BOHEMUS  ET  MARTINUS  JuRISCHITZ  LuSACIUS,  QUI 
BIBLIA  INSCII  SERVAVERANT  ET  PER  BIBLIA  IN  STERNUM  SER- 
VATI  SUNT:"  that  is, 

" ' "  In  the  year  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  1642  died 
and  are  here  buried  Friedrich  Wenzel  of  Bohemia, 
and  Martin  Jurischitz  of  Lusatia  ;  who  without 
knowing  it  had  saved  the  Bible,  and  through  the 
Bible  have  been  themselves  saved  unto  everlasting 
life." 

'"On  the  other  side  of  the  stone  stood  the  words 
— "Hinnerk  Hinz  and  Peter  his  son  and  Drewes 
Johan  have  had  this  stone  erected  for  two  gold 
gulden  out  of  the  Landsknecht's  doublet." 

ulTwo  years  after  the  end  of  the  thirty  years' 
war,  those  two  peasants,  of  their  own  free  will, 
pulled  down  their  houses  in  the  Buchhorst  and 
built  them  up  again  in  the  village  of  Wesen ;  for 
the  reason,  that  after  the  devastations  of  those 
years  the  wolves  had  so  got  the  upper  hand  that  it 
was  no  longer  possible  to  be  secure  from  them. 
Twice,  with  great  difficulty,  they  had  recovered 
their  children  from  the  wolves,  which  already  had 
them  in  their  grip  and  were  dragging  them  off; 
and  then  they  thought,  to  stay  there  longer  would 
be  to  tempt  God.  Those  two  farms  are  still  in 
Wesen  and  are  yet  called  Drewes'  farm  and  Hinz's 


334  PINE   NEEDLES 

farm,  although  the  possessors  in  these  latter  days 
have  long  borne  other  names.  May  God  give  us 
from  this  old  story  the  blessing,  that  we  may  be 
ever  more  as  strong  in  the  Bible  and  as  firm  in 
faith  as  the  men  of  old  were.'" 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  335 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

"  That  is  one  of  your  very  prettiest  stories,  Ditto," 
cried  Maggie  when  he  stopped. 

"Yes,"  said  Flora,  "  I  think  so." 

"  It  must  be  a  good  story  that  can  be  listened  to 
here,"  said  Mr.  Murray,  —  "  and  I  have  been  listen 
ing  with  great  attention.  I  have  been  thinking, 
while  I  was  looking  out  over  all  this  beauty  and 
receiving  so  much  by  my  ears  of  another  kind  of 
beauty,  —  I  have  been  thinking  and  rejoicing  to 
myself  over  the  fact,  how  good  our  God  is.  *  Moun 
tains,  and  all  hills;  fruitful  trees,  and  all  cedars; 
young  men  and  maidens;  old  men  and  children: 
let  them  praise  the  name  of  the  Lord.'" 

"  Uncle  Eden,"  said  Maggie  meditatively,  "  how 
can  hills  praise  the  Lord  ?  —  or  trees  ?  " 

"  Don't  they  ?  " 

"How,  Uncle  Eden?" 

11  Don't  they,  I  ask?" 

"  But  they  could  not  hear  anybody  tell  them  to 
praise." 

"You  are  a  literalist.  How  can  'the  trees  of  the 
field  clap  their  hands '  ?  " 


336  PINE   NEEDLES 

"  Does  the  Bible  say  they  do  ?  " 

"  It  says  they  will.  And  it  says  *  Let  the  floods 
clap  their  hands;  let  .the  hills  be  joyful  together  be 
fore  the  Lord ;  for  he  cometh  ! '  —  " 

"  But  that  is  very  strange  too,"  said  Flora.  "  '  He 
cometh  to  judge  the  earth; '  I  know  the  chant;  but 
it  seems  solemn  and  dreadful,  and  it  is  sung  in  the 
''minor  key." 

"I  know"  —  said  Mr.  Murray.  "The  composer 
did  not  understand  the  rejoicing  either." 

"  But  how  can  any  one,  Mr.  Murray  ?  " 

"Those  'that  love  his  appearing,'  Miss  Flora?" 

"I  suppose  I  am  very  bad,  Mr.  Murray;  but  I 
tell  you  just  how  I  feel.  That  seems  to  me  the 
most  awful  of  times,  and  nothing  but  awful." 

"  Perfectly  correct,  Miss  Flora,  and  just  as  it  is 
described  in  the  Bible.  When  the  kings  and  the 
great  men  and  the  rich  men  will  say  to  the  moun 
tains  and  to  the  rocks,  *  Fall  on  us,  and  hide  us ! ' — " 

"But  you  talk  of  being  glad?  "  said  Flora  look 
ing  a  good  deal  troubled. 

"Ay,  but  I  was  thinking  of  the  other  party," 
said  Mr.  Murray  gravely, — "from  whom  will  go 
up  a  very  different  cry,  a  shout  of  gladness — '  Lo, 
this  is  our  God !  we  have  waited  for  him,  and  he 
will  save  us.' " 

"  Save  them  from  what  ?  " 

"  From  all  the  oppressions  and  miseries  inflicted 
upon  them  by  the  rulers  of  this  world;  and  more, 
from  all  the  evils  under  which  humanity  has  been 
groaning  ever  since  the  fall.  Then  will  strike  the 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  337 

hour  of  the  world's  freedom.  That  will  be  the  time 
when  the  bridegroom  cometh,  and  they  that  are 
ready  will  go  in  with  him  to  the  marriage.  Don't 
you  think  they  will  be  glad  ?  who  have  been  wait 
ing  in  darkness  and  weariness  for  so  long  ?  Then 
comes  the  marriage  supper,  and  the  everlasting 
union  between  Christ  and  his  church.  Should  not 
the  church  be  glad?" 

"  You  said,  4  they  that  are  ready. ' ' 

"Yes." 

"  Who  are  they  ?  " 

"  Do  you  remember  the  parable  of  the  marriage 
supper  ?  Don't  you  recollect,  one  man  had  not  on 
a  wedding  garment  ?  " 

"  But  what  is  the  wedding  garment?"  said  Flora, 
who  looked  as  if  she  had  some  difficulty  to  keep 
her  ^composure. 

"  Shall  I  answer  you  in  the  words  of  one  of  old 
time  ? — '  I  will  greatly  rejoice  in  the  Lord,  my  soul 
shall  be  joyful  in  my  God;  for  he  hath  clothed  me 
with  the  garments  of  salvation,  he  hath  covered  me 
with  the  robe  of  righteousness,  as  a  bridegroom 
decketh  himself  with  ornaments,  and  as  a  bride 
adorneth  herself  with  her  jewels.' " 

"  Then  it  is  something  given  " — said  Flora  slowly. 

"Given,  by  the  King  to  the  guests;  a  free  gift, 
Miss  Flora,  to  all  who  accept  the  King's  invita 
tion." 

Flora  asked  no  more,  but  lay  still  on  her  couch 
of  pine  branches,  looking  out  on  the  calm  and  glo 
rified  hills.  Nobody  else  broke  the  silence ;  I  think 


338  PINE   NEEDLES 

Fenton  was  gone  to  sleep;  and  the  others  were 
quiet. 

"  The  shadows  are  going  the  wrong  way,"  said 
Flora  at  last.  "I  wish  this  day  would  last  longer! " 

"'A  thing  of  beauty  is  a  joy  forever'" — said 
Meredith. 

"  Don't  quote  such  a  dreadfully  hackneyed  senti 
ment  ! "  said  his  sister.  "  How  comes,  it  Mr.  Mur 
ray,  that  beautiful  things  in  nature  never  grow 
hackneyed  ?  " 

"They  are  always  fresh.  No  two  days  in  one's 
experience  are  just  like  each  other." 

"There  never  was  a  day  in  my  experience  like 
this  one,"  said  Flora.  "  Ditto,  aren't  you  going  to 
read  some  more  ?  " 

"  It  will  be  a  variety,  if  I  do." 

"We  are  made  to  like  variety — as  Mr.  Murray 
has  just  reminded  you." 

Meredith  guessed  that  his  sister  cared  more  about 
putting  off  the  hour  of  departure  than  about  the 
reading  in  the  abstract;  and  he  opened  his  book 
again,  for  nobody  else  made  any  objection  to  Flora's 
proposal. 

"  I  shall  read  you,"  said  he,  "  the  story  of  a  pas 
tor  and  a  farmer." 

"  Those  are  the  people  your  stories  are  generally 
about,"  said  Flora.  "  I  hope  the  variety  will  lie  in 
the  treatment.  Go  on.  I  don't  care  what  you 
read." 

" 4  In  a  certain  country,  that  I  am  not  going  to 
name,  there  is  a  parish  village.  In  the  parsonage 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  339 

lives  a  pastor;  it  is  not  I  however.  This  pastor 
faithfully  serves  our  beloved  church  with  the  word 
of  God,  which  he  preaches  in  truth,  and  with  the 
holy  sacraments,  which  he  administers  as  he  ought. 
And  wherever  this  is  done,  the  fruit  will  not  be 
wanting;  for  God  has  promised  it,  and  he  keeps 
his  word  still,  although  among  men  there  is  little 
truth  or  faith  any  longer  to  be  found. 

"'With  temporal  goods,  however,  this  pastor  is 
not  specially  well  provided;  and  were  it  not  that 
he  has  a  living  God  in  the  heavens,  he  must  many 
a  time  grow  anxious  and  dispirited ;  which  in  truth 
he  does  not  always  escape,  as  he  himself  humbly 
confesses.  For  if  you  have  a  small  benefice,  a  large 
family,  and  a  couple  of  children  at  school  to  boot, 
sometimes  that  gives  even  a  believer  the  headache; 
though  indeed  there  is  no  need  for  that,  were  faith 
but  strong  and  prayer  simple  enough.  Now  there 
are  cultivated  fields  belonging  to  the  living;  but 
as  the  pastor  cannot  drive  the  plough  spiritual  and 
the  plough  agricultural  both  at  once,  he  hires  out 
his  ground;  that  he  may  give  himself  the  more 
diligently  to  the  cultivation  of  hearts.  From  these 
hired-out  acres  comes  not  a  small  part  of  his  scanty 
means,  and  therefore  it  becomes  a  very  desirable 
thing  that  he  should  dispose  of  his  ground  suita 
bly.  With  most  of  his  fields,  indeed,  this  is  not 
difficult,  for  they  are  fruitful  and  favourably  situ 
ated  and  easy  to  get  a  good  tenant  for  them.  But 
one  of  his  pieces  of  ground,  and  a  pretty  large  one, 
lies  on  the  slope  of  a  hill  which  is  wooded  at  the 


340  PINE   NEEDLES 

top;  this  field  nobody  will  take,  because  in  great 
rains  loose  earth  and  stones  come  rolling  down  over 
the  slope  from  the  hill  above,  and  in  this  way  the 
whole  crop  may  easily  be  destroyed.  It  comes  to 
my  mind  that  the  fault  probably  lies  at  the  door  of 
the  beloved  Enclosings.  In  the  course  of  them  it 
might  well  happen  that  too  much  wood  has  been 
cleared  from  the  hill  arid  sold.  By  that  means  the 
soil  has  been  laid  bare  and  the  rain  floods  can  wash 
it  off  anywhere  they  come.  At  any  rate,  nobody 
wants  the  field;  and  it  always  gives  the  pastor  a 
stab  in  the  heart  when  he  comes  past  it ;  and  he  does 
not  content  himself  with  thinking,  but  he  prays  too, 
and  promises  that  he  will  give  to  the  Lord  Jesus,  for 
the  mission,  a  portion  of  the  hire  of  the  field,  if  only 
a  tenant  may  be  found  for  it. 

"'And  He  in  the  heavens  has  heard  the  pastor's 
prayer.  Not  long  after,  there  comes  a  man  of  the 
parish,  who  is  not  in  possession  of  ground  enough 
to  make  his  farming  suffice  for  the  wants  of  his  fam 
ily,  and  who  therefore  would  willingly  hire  some 
more  acres.  He  offers  to  take  the  neglected  field 
off  the  pastor's  hands.  The  upright  pastor  does 
not  hide  from  him  the  reason  why  the  field  has 
hitherto  found  no  tenant.  But  this  man,  who  loves 
the  Lord  Jesus,  and  who  therefore  is  a  hearty  friend 
of  his  pastor,  declares  that  he  has  already  quietly 
considered  all  that;  and  he  has  thought  among 
other  things  that  it  must  be  very  important  to  the 
pastor  to  let  out  this  field,  for  to  be  sure  the  boys 
cost  money;  and  it  is  very  desirable  for  himself  to 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  341 

hire  a  field,  since  he  also  has  a  great  many  mouths 
to  feed.  So  both  of  them  would  be  the  better  off. 
The  Lord  must  have  the  care  of  the  tiling,  and 
that  he  is  well  able  for;  he  himself  also  would 
pray  the  Lord  faithfully  to  this  end,  and  he  would 
make  it  the  one  stipulation  with  his  beloved  pastor, 
that  he  would  stand  by  him  and  help  him  in  faith 
ful  prayer.  The  two  men  gave  each  other  the  hand 
upon  that.  The  man  hiring  the  ground  had  also 
told  the  Lord  that  he  would  give  him  a  portion  of 
the  produce  of  the  field  for  the  conversion  of  the 
heathen,  and  that  all  the  same  whether  the  pro 
duce  were  much  or  little.  But  the  man  had  said 
nothing  about  this  to  his  pastor,  and  he  again  on 
the  other  side  had  said  nothing  to  the  man  about 
his  own  contract  with  the  Lord;  so  that  each  of 
them  had  thus  kept  in  his  heart  a  secret  for  him 
self,  which  was  known  to  the  Lord  alone.  But 
surely  I  know  that  the  Lord  thereupon  looked 
kindly  on  both  the  men. 

"  *  Now  in  the  autumn  the  farmer  sets  himself 
vigorously  to  work  to  get  the  field  in  order;  and 
the  Lord  gives  his  blessing  upon  it ;  up  comes  the 
seed  merrily,  and  the  winter  does  it  no  hurt;  the 
Lord  has  graciously  sheltered  it.  With  a  wet  sum 
mer  the  corn  really  shoots  up,  and  stands  so  fine 
that  it  is  magnificent  to  see.  Both  pastor  and 
farmer  are  heartily  glad  at  the  sight,  and  both  at 
the  same  time  have  a  secret  recollection  of  their 
vow,  arid  are  still  more  glad.  But  many  of  the 
peasants,  who  are  not  lovers  of  the  Lord,  and  there- 


342  PINE    NEEDLES 

fore  also  not  lovers  of  their  good  pastor,  and  of  the 
good  farmer  as  little,  feel  no  pleasure,  but  a  regular 
hateful  grudge  in  their  hearts;  for  indeed  there  is 
everywhere  a  plenty  of  envy  and  spite  to  be  found 
among  unbelievers,  because  they  make  their  god 
out  of  what  is  earthly  and  that  is  all  they  care 
about.  However  they  comfort  themselves  with  the 
thought  that  when  the  thunder-showers  once  come 
with  their  violent  rain-pours,  then  surely  there  will 
be  stones  and  soil  enough  rolling  down  upon  the 
field  from  off  the  hill  in  the  end  to  destroy  all  that 
is  standing  upon  it.  Verily  that  is  not  a  godly  sort 
of  satisfaction,  but  a  true  Satanic  delight,  for  Satan 
rejoices  when  any  evil  happens  to  people. 

"  *  And  at  last,  the  wish  of  the  peasants  seems 
to  be  fulfilled.  There  comes  up  an  uncommonly 
violent  thunder-storm;  the  rain  pours  down  from 
heaven  in  streams,  as  if  the  clouds  had  burst;  so 
that  regular  brooks  are  flowing  down  the  village 
streets.  Then  the  envious  people  triumph;  there 
is  no  mistake  about  it,  the  field  lying  so  exposed 
on  the  slope  of  the  hill,  must  be  thoroughly  laid 
Avaste.  Those  two  men,  it  may  well  be,  tremble 
too,  for  the  storm  is  too  frightful;  but  lose  heart 
they  do  not;  on  the  contrary  the  need  drives  them 
to  more  ardent  prayer:  "Lord,  help,  and  do  not  let 
the  field  be  spoiled.  Thou  art  the  strong,  almighty 
God  of  Sabaoth,  and  thy  hand  is  not  shortened,  but 
thine  arm  is  stretched  out  still."  So  they  prayed; 
and  when  the  storm  was  past  they  went  confi 
dently  up  to  the  field,  a  good  many  accompanying 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  343 

them  ;  and  as  they  were  going,  and  while  the  many 
who  went  along  could  hardly  hide  their  delight, 
they  were  singing  in  their  hearts  the  hymn  — 


mejn  Gott  will  gescheh  allzeit, 
Sein  Wille  1st  der  beste  ; 
Zu  helfen  ist  Er  dem  bereit, 
Der  an  Urn  glaubet  feste."  '  " 

"  Ditto,  we  don't  understand  that." 

"  It  means  about  this.  *  The  will  of  my  God  be 
done  always.  His  will  is  the  best.  He  is  always 
ready  to  help  them  who  rest  on  him  in  firm  faith.'  " 

"'With  that,  they  are  able  to  look  up  cheerfully 
and  they  are  of  good  courage.  And  when  they 
arrive  at  the  field,  what  do  they  see?  The  entire 
field  is  unharmed.  The  stalks  of  grain  lift  their 
heads  up  bravely,  as  if  they  too  would  give  thanks 
for  the  beautiful  rain  which  has  so  refreshed  them. 
But  on  both  sides  of  the  field  a  whole  stream  has 
poured  down  from  the  hill,  and  nothing  is  to  be 
seen  but  a  wild  mass  of  rocks  and  stones.  Whose 
is  the  strong  hand  which  seized  the  rain  flood  and 
parted  it  just  before  it  came  to  the  field  and  so  gen 
tly  led  it  down  on  both  sides  of  the  field  ?  Moved 
to  the  depth  of  their  hearts,  our  two  friends  were 
constrained  to  cry  out  —  "The  Lord,  he  is  the  God! 
The  Lord,  he  is  the  God!  Give  our  God  the  glory." 
And  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  many  of  the  unbelievers, 
if  not  aloud  yet  quietly,  joined  in  the  prayer  with 
them. 

"  *  And  now,  when  the  harvest  was  finished,  and 
the  farmer  brought  to  the  pastor  what  he  had  prom- 


344  PINE   NEEDLES 

ised  to  give  the  Lord  of  the  produce  of  the  field, 
and  then  also  the  pastor's  vow  was  made  known 
to  the  farmer,  the  two  fell  upon  their  knees  again 
and  thanked  the  Lord  for  his  goodness,  because 
his  mercy  endureth  forever.  Must  not  such  gifts 
to  the  heathen  go  with  God's  special  blessing  rest 
ing  upon  them  ? ' ' 

"  Is  that  all  ?  "  said  Maggie. 

"  That  is  all,"  said  Meredith  smiling. 

"I  do  not  know  what  to  make  of  that  story," 
said  Flora. 

"Why?? 

"  Storms  come  from  natural  causes." 

"0  do  they!"  said  Meredith.  "You  do  not  be 
lieve  then  what  the  psalm  says — "  'He  commandeth 
and  raiseth  the  stormy  wind' — " 

"But  that  is  poetry." 

"So  is  this,"  said  Mr.  Murray,— "' Who  hath  di 
vided  a  watercourse  for  the  overflowing  of  waters; 
or  a  way  for  the  lightning  of  thunder;  to  cause  it 
to  rain  011  the  earth,  where  no  man  is;  on  the 
wilderness,  wherein  is  no  man;  to  satisfy  the  des 
olate  and  waste  ground;  and  to  cause  the  bud  of 
the  tender  herb  to  spring  forth?'" 

"Well,"  said  Flora  a  little  abashed,  "is'nt  it 
poetry?" 

"  I  do  think,  Flo,"  said  her  brother,  "  you  have 
forgotten  all  our  talks  around  the  breakfast  table 
in  Florida  and  elsewhere." 

"  Here  again,"  said  Mr.  Murray, — "  « He  saith  to 
the  snow,  Be  thou  on  the  earth;  likewise  to  the 


AND   OLD   YARNS.  345 

small  rain,  and  to  the  great  rain  of  his  strength.' 
It  won't  do,  Miss  Flora,  to  resist  the  fact.  And  I 
would  remark,  that  the  highest  poetry  is  the  high 
est  truth  also." 

"But  do  you  think,  Mr.  Murray,  if  it  is  so,  that 
God  will  change  his  arrangements  just  for  men's 
asking  him." 

"  I  don't  think,  I  know  it,  Miss  Flora.  It  is  pre 
cisely  the  Lord's  way.  But  we  can  riot  stop  to  talk 
about  that  now.  My  friends,  do  you  see  where  the 
sun  is?" 

"  0  must  we  go  ?  "  cried  they  all. 

"  It  is  a  pity,  isn't  it  ?  But  this  would  hardly  do 
for  a  night's  lodging;  and  if  we  are  to  sleep  at 
home,  we  must  take  the  necessary  steps." 

Slowly  they  gathered  themselves  up  from  their 
pine  bushes,  and  shook  themselves;  literally  and 
figuratively,  I  might  say. 

"What  are  you  going  to  do  with  your  oyster- 
shells,  Fenton  ?  "  his  uncle  demanded. 

"I  don't  want  to  do  anything  with  them,  said 
the  boy. 

"  You  always  want  to  be  a  gentleman." 

"  What  has  that  to  do  with  it  ?  " 

"A  gentleman  never  needlessly  annoys  anybody." 

"Nobody  comes  here,"  said  Fenton  grumblingly. 
But  they  all  laughed  so  at  him  that  he  pocketed 
his  ill-humour  and  took  his  share  in  carrying  the 
wrecks  of  the  feast  down  to  the  creek  side. 

Then  with  the  tide  they  swept  up  the  river.  I 
can  never  tell  you  how  pretty  it  was.  The  day 


346  PINE   NEEDLES 

had  kept  its  character  of  clear  quiet  beauty  with 
out  change ;  and  now  as  the  sun  began  to  get  low 
er  in  the  western  sky  and  shadows  stretched  along 
under  the  shore  on  the  river  and  fell  in  lengthening 
patches  or  lines  from  hill-tops  and  trees,  it  did  not 
grow  cold.  Quiet  and  sweet  the  air  was,  even  on 
the  water ;  and  the  rowers  dipped  and  raised  their 
oars  in  steady  time,  and  in  silence.  Nobody  wanted 
to  talk.  They  passed  the  island  or  promontory  a 
little  above  Fort  Montgomery,  passed  on  and  on, 
keeping  the  mid  stream  now,  passed  Gee's  Point, 
saw  the  boat-house  looming  up  before  them, — and 
were  at  home. 

The  very  next  day  it  rained. 


FINIS. 


530  BROADWAY,  NEW  YORK, 
November,  1876. 


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Little  Kitty's  Library.  6  vols.  3.00 
Harry  and  Dolly  Library.  G  v.  3.00 

Rainbow  Series.    5  vols 3.00 

Primrose  Series.     6  vols 3.00 

The  Lily  Series.    6  vols«......  2.00 


HELPS  TO  BIBLE  STUDY, 


PUBLISHED   BY 


ROBERT  BARTER 


'MATTHEW  HENRY'S  COMMENTARY  ON  THE  BIBLE. 

In  9  volumes,  8vo.,  cloth,        -  $27.00 

In  5  volumes,  quarto,  sheep,  ...          25.00 

It  would  be  easy  to  name  commentators  more  critical,  more  philosophical,  or 
more  severely  erudite ;  but  none  so  successful  in  making  the  Bible  understood.  In 
the  words  of  the  late  JAMES  HAMILTON,  D.D.,  who  has  done  as  much  as  any  man  to 
promote  the  circulation  of  HENRY'S  Commentary,  "  It  has  now  lasted  more  than  one 
hundred  and  forty  years,  and  is  at  this  moment  more  popular  than  ever,  gathering 
strength  as  it  rolls  down  the  stream  of  time ;  and  it  bids  fair  to  be  the  Comment 
for  all  coming  time.  True  to  GOD,  true  to  nature,  true  to  common  sense,  how  can  it 
ever  be  superseded  ?  Waiting  pilgrims  will  be  reading  it  when  the  last  trumpet 
sounds,  Come  to  judgment  1"  Or,  in  the  words  of  Dr.  ALEXANDER,  "Taking  it  as  a 
whole,  and  as  adapted  to  every  class  of  readers,  this  Commentary  may  be  said  to  com 
bine  more  excellence  than  any  work  of  the  kind  which  was  ever  written  in  any  lan 
guage." 

'POOL'S  ANNOTATIONS  ON  THE  BIBLE. 

3  volumes,  royal  8vo.,       -        -        -        -        -         15.00 

RICHARD  CECIL  says  "  POOL  is  incomparable." 
EDWARD  BICKERSTETH  says  "  Judicious  and  full." 

T.  H.  HORNE  says  "  He  who  wishes  to  understand  the  Scriptures  will  rarely 
consult  them  without  advantage." 


10  HELPS   TO   BIBLE   STUDY. 


"HORNE'S  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  STUDY  OF  THE 
BIBLE. 

One  volume,  royal  8vo.,  sheep,         ...          tj.0o 

"  An  indispensable  work  for  a  theological  library.  *  *  *  It  is  a  work 
of  gigantic  labor.  The  results  of  the  research  and  erudition  of  scholars  of  all  coun 
tries  and  in  all  time  are  here  faithfully  garnered." — Evangelist. 

KITTO'S  BIBLE  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

4  volumes,  121110.,      ---.--          7.00 

"  I  cannot  lose  this  opportuity  of  recommending,  in  the  strongest  language  and 
most  emphatic  manner  I  can  command,  this  invaluable  series  of  books.  I  believe  for 
the  elucidation  of  the  historic  parts  of  Scripture,  there  is  nothing  comparable  with 
them  in  the  English  or  any  other  language." — John  Angel  James, 

DR.  HANNA'S  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

3  volumes,          .....     ....»        .          4.50 

"  We  can  most  heartily  commend  the  '  Life  of  our  Lord '  by  Dr.  HANNA." — Con" 
gregational  Quarterly. 

"  Sabbath-bchool  teachers  will  find  Dr.  HANNA'S  work  very  helpful."— 5".  S.  Times. 

"  From  a  perusal  of  these  volumes  we  believe  that  the  sympathetic  reader  will 
carry  away  a  more  distinct  image  of  the  character  and  life  of  Christ,  and  his  relation 
to  his  contemporaries,  than  he  can  gain  from  the  more  brilliant  page  of  FRESSENSE, 
or  the  more  elaborate  discussions  of  NEANDER.'"— North  Briti&k  Review. 

DR.  JACOBUS'  COMMENTARIES. 

Genesis,  2  volumes  in  one,          -        ...  1.50 

Exodus.     Part  I,        ------  i.oo 

Matthew  and  Mark,   ------  1.50 

Luke  and  John,          --....  1.50 

Acts,  --......  i. 50 

The  value  of  Dr.  JACOBUS*  Notes  is  evinced  by  the  fact 
that  over  ONE  HUNDRED  THOUSAND  VOLUMES  of  them  have  been 
sold  in  this  country  alone,  without  counting  the  circulation  in 
Great  Britain. 

Drs.  HCDGE,  GREEN,  and  others  of  Princeton,  say:  "The  excellent  Commen- 
taiies  of  Dr.  JACOBUS  have  deservedly  attained  a  high  reputation.  They  present,  in 
a  brief  compass,  the  results  of  extensive  erudition,  abound  in  judicious  exposition  and 
pertinent  illustration,  and  are,  moreover,  distinguished  by  doctrinal  soundness,  evan 
gelical  character,  and  an  eminently  devout  spirit." 


HELPS   TO    BIBLE   STUDY.  11 


RYLE  ON  THE  GOSPELS. 

7  volume6:,  121110,      ---...  10.50 

OR  SEPARATELY: 

Matthew,    -------.  1.50 

Mark,         -------.  1.50 

Luke,  2  volumes,        ......  3.00 

John,  3  volumes,        -        -        -        -        -        .  4.50 

"  WG  Know  of  no  comment  that,  as  a  whole,  gives  as  much  satisfaction  in  the 
•tudy  of  the  Divine  Word  as  this."— Christian  Instructor. 

"  Those  who  are  engaged  in  teaching  others  will  find  in  them  a  treasury,  full  of 
edifying  and  instructive  suggestions." — Episcopal  Register. 

BONAR'S  BIBLE  THOUGHTS  AND  THEMES. 

Genesis — Earth's  Morning,         »        -        -        -  2.00 

Old  Testament,          -        -  -        -        -  2.00 

Gospels,     --------  2.00 

Acts  and  the  Larger  Epistles,  ...  2.oo 

Lesser  Epistles,         ......  2.00 

Revelation,         .......  2.00 

"  The  condensed  riches  of  Bible  truth." 

DR.  HODGE'S  COMMENTARIES. 

Corinthians,  2  volumes,      -        ....          3.^0 
Ephesians,          --.-...  x.y- 

"  Dr.  HODGE'S  Commentaries  ought  to  be  in  the  hands  of  all  readers  of  the 
Bible,  in  families,  in  Sabbath-schools  and  Seminaries." — Observer. 

DR.  CROSBY  ON  JOSHUA,       -   -   -    i.oo 
DR.  GREEN  ON  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB,   -   -    1.75 

"  The  thanks  of  the  Christian  public  are  due  to  the  scholarly  and  devout  Prot 
W.  II.  GREEN,  of  Princeton,  for  a  modest,  but  as  we  think,  exceptionally  valuable 
little  treatise  on  the  Book  of  Job." — Congregationalist. 

HORNE  ON  THE  PSALMS,         ....          2.50 
BRIDGES  ON  THE  PROVERBS,        ...          2.50 


12  HELPS   TO   BIBLE   STUDY. 


HAMILTON  ON  ECCLESIASTES.     (Royal  Preacher).  1.25 

MISS  NEWTON  ON  THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON,  1.25 

BROWN  ON  THE  DISCOURSES  OF  OUR  LORD,  3.50 

ARNOT  ON  ACTS.     (Church  in  the  House).         »  2.50 

HALDANE  ON  ROMANS,    -                          -        -  3.00 

CHALMERS  ON  ROMANS,          -        -  ,; ,.        -  2.50 

*BROWN  ON  ROMANS,    :,.,..'»..        -        -  2.00 

McGHEE  ON  EPHESIANS,           -     (  -        -    ''^  -  3-oo 

LILLIE  ON  THESSALONIANS,         ;  ->  1  •-        ^  ,  2.00 

*SAMPSON  ON  HEBREWS,       .  -       *       .;      -  3.00 

MISS  NEWTON  ON  HEBREWS,          .        -        -  1.50 

DR.  BROWN  ON  FIRST  PETER,                 -  3.50 

BUTLER  ON  THE  APOCALYPSE,     -.,     -  1.50 

THE  BOOK  AND  ITS  STORY,  ~    '  ru    .-       -  ^S0 

FRESH  LEAVES  FROM  THE  BOOK  AND  ITS  STORY,  2.00 

BOWES,  THE  SCRIPTURE  ITS  OWN  ILLUSTRATOR,  1.50 

DRUMMOND  ON  THE  PARABLES,  -  1.75 

DYKES  ON  THE  SERMON  ON  THE  MOUNT.     3  vols.,  3.75 

THE  WORD  SERIES.     By  Miss  WARNER.     3  vols.,  4.50 

THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  ST.  PAUL.     By  Macduff,  1.50 

ERASER'S  LECTURES  ON  THE  BOOKS  OF  THE 

BIBLE.     2  volumes,           ....               -        -  4.00 

THE  CHRIST  OF  HISTORY.     By  JOHN  YOUNG,  1.25 

NATURE  AND  THE  BIBLE.     By  DAWSON,  1.75 

BLUNT'S   COINCIDENCES   AND   PALEY'S   HOR^E 

PAULINA,       -  1.50 

PALEY'S  EVIDENCES,     Edited  by  Prof.  NAIRNE,  1.50 


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RENEWED  BOOKS  ARE  SUBJECT  TO  IMMEDIATE 
RECALL 


LIBRARY,  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  DAVIS 

Book  Slip-50rn-9,'70(N9877s8)458 — A-31/5,6 


N?  811473 

Warner,  S. 
Pine  needles. 


PS3155 
P5 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
DAVIS 


